A rogue scrap metal trader has been slapped with a bill of almost £6,000 after being caught by police and Ashford’s Environmental Enforcement team.

Luke Warren was fined after admitting collecting and dumping waste metal without a licence in Ashford.

The 25-year-old from Boxley, South Ashford, was spotted using the Ashford recycling dump on two occasions.

Ashford Borough Council (ABC) was tipped off by Kent County Council on September 14, 2021, that a suspect trader had used the centre twice in recent days to dump a total of nine fridges.

Mr Warren was identified, and his vehicle was placed on the suspect vehicle list, resulting in it being flagged up at a scrap metal yard just over a week later.

Police and council workers stopped the car and quizzed Mr Warren, who told an Environmental Enforcement officer he was operating South East Scrap Metals.

After being unable to produce proof of a licence within a week of being stopped, he was hit with two Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN).

However, the then failed to pay either fine, and then did not turn up to an interview with council officers.

The issues were then brought before the Magistrates' court in Folkestone. Ahead of a hearing, Mr Warren admitted three counts relating to trading without a licence.

The court heard that he had recieved more than £4,000 in payment for his unlicensed trading during the relevant time frame, and so fined him £4,300.

He was also told to pay costs of £1,385.45 and a victim surcharge of £180, amounting to a total of £5,865.45.

Cllr Paul Bartlett, ABC;s Portfolio Holder for Safety and Wellbeing, said: “This substantial sentence sends out a clear message that the Council will not tolerate such forms of illegal waste operation.

"The case is also a fine example of co-operation between the county council, Ashford and Kent Police to bring offenders like this to justice.”