Rye Lane supermarket attracts big fine for fly tipping offences

29 October 2018

Southwark Council’s prosecution of Family Carnation supermarket, of 151a Rye Lane, resulted in fines for the business totalling £1,785, following a guilty plea in relation to a fly tipping offence, at Camberwell Green Magistrates Court, 14 October.

On 24 May, a council enforcement officer witnessed an employee of Family Carnation supermarket leave the shop with a delivery trolley carrying four cardboard boxes. Two of the boxes were full of fruit and vegetable cuttings and contained receipts from the Family Carnation supermarket. The officer photographed the employee taking the rubbish to 161 Rye Lane and dumping it outside that premises.

Further to this Amanuel Fissehaye, 51, sole director of Family Carnation supermarket, SE15 and of Harbridge Avenue, SW15, attended a formal police interview, where he admitted that the waste had come from his shop.

The council had already prosecuted the business and Amanuel Fissehaye in 2017, when they were found guilty of illegally and dangerously dumping rubbish bags directly into the back of a Southwark bin lorry, they were fined  a total of £1370.

Fly tipping on the public highway represents a public health problem and it can also adversely affect how people feel about their neighbourhoods. Because of this, Southwark Council operates a waste collection programme clearing unmarked abandoned waste. Without this, waste would quickly accumulate.

Last year, Southwark Council collected 5343 tonnes in fly tipped waste, which equated to a disposal cost of £1.07 million. Although the cost of this is covered by the council, it ultimately comes from public funds, diverting money away from other civic improvements.

Cllr Richard Livingstone, Cabinet Member for environment, transport management and air quality, said: “We take fly tipping extremely seriously and I am delighted to hear that the diligence of a member of council staff has resulted in a heavy fine for this offender. I hope it serves as a warning to all other businesses: the council will always prosecute those who are found to have blighted our streets with unsightly, dirty rubbish.”

Page last updated: 30 October 2018