A HOUSEHOLDER has been forced to pay hundreds of pounds for the clean-up of rubble left strewn across a building footpath in rural Worcestershire.

Your Worcester News reported in August how piles of bricks, cardboard boxes, concrete and plastic bags were found between Hindlip Lane and Spring Bank in Fernhill Heath, near Worcester.

At the time it was not clear whether the rubbish had been the result of fly-tipping or had fallen from an over-loaded lorry.

But after an investigation by officers at Wychavon District Council the rubbish was found to have been deliberately dumped and it was traced back to a Worcester homeowner who had paid an unauthorised waste carrier to take it away.

The council used its discretion and decided not to prosecute, instead accepting payment for the cost of the clean-up as officers did not believe the householder, who had to fork out a total of £450, had dumped it themselves.

Dave Roberts, environmental crime officer, said: “Householders disposing of waste should be aware that they can be prosecuted if they pass waste to people who are not licensed to take it.

“But in this case we felt that accepting costs would be in the public interest.”