A 75-year-old man who kept gates open to allow fly-tippers and took £20 a head off tipper drivers to bring illegal waste to his site, is now facing a £32,000 bill in fines and costs.

Raymond Wortley, of The Streddars, Hundreds Road, Crowland, accepted and stored waste illegally at his home without a permit.

Whilst some of the waste was burned, he also left his gate open which allowed fly-tippers to deposit onto his site.

He has been fined £21,693.50 and ordered to pay £10,000 towards the cost of prosecution after being sentenced at Peterborough magistrates court on May 24.

Wortley pleaded guilty to operating a waste facility without a permit and to knowingly permitting others to deposit waste.

Wisbech Standard: The waste site run by Raymond WortleyThe waste site run by Raymond Wortley (Image: EA)

Waste including, tree cuttings, plastics, treated wood and construction waste was kept on land at Wortley’s home between October 23, 2019 and June 2, 2021.

Environment Agency officers visited the site in October 2019 after reports of material being burnt at the site.

Smoke from the fire was so thick that the officers were unable to see each other. Metal sheeting, aerosols, ceramic pots and plastic were all found on the burn pile.

Further surveillance noted tipper trucks bringing waste to the site on numerous occasions during this time.

Wisbech Standard: The waste site run by Raymond WortleyThe waste site run by Raymond Wortley (Image: EA)

The agency said they were told by drivers that a fee of £20 was being charged per load to bring waste to the site.

Wortley was told orally and in writing on several occasions that he was not allowed to run the site in the way he was doing. Despite this, he continued to do so.

Further visits were made to the site in July 2020. An attempt to regularise some of the activities had been made with the green waste now being shredded but this still required a permit.

In November 2021, the site was inspected via drone and found to be still operating as a waste transfer station without any permits.

In mitigation it was explained that Mr Wortley had misunderstood the scope of the regulations and had made efforts to comply.

He had recently cleared the site and was in the process of making an application for planning permission.

Peter Stark, enforcement team leader, said: “We take illegal waste activity very seriously and will take the necessary action to disrupt criminal activity and prosecute those responsible.

“Wortley was advised to stop on numerous occasions but continued to disregard environmental law. He is now receiving the consequences of those actions.