A man has been ordered to pay more than £2,000 for illegally transporting a friend's rubbish as "a favour".

Shane Jestin-Cull was caught carrying garden waste, wood and fencing in a grabber truck on the Orbital Business Park in Ashford.

Suspicious police officers had stopped him on February 2 and alerted Ashford Borough Council's Environmental Crime Team, which sent staff to the scene.

Jestin Cull presented officials with a waste transfer note, as well as an Environment Agency waste carriers licence in the name of a different man.

He claimed he was doing a favour for the licence holder.

Jestin-Cull was served with a Section 5 Notice, requiring him to produce his, or his employer’s authority to transport waste. He then said that he was in the process of applying for the appropriate licence.

He was ordered to appear before Folkestone Magistrates on July 18, but failed to attend court.

A lawyer for the council applied for the matter to be heard in his absence and, after considering the prosecution's evidence, the district judge found Jestin-Cull guilty of two waste offences.

He was fined a total of £1,440 and ordered to pay council costs of £839, and a victim surcharge of £144.

He was given 28 days to pay.