Milton Keynes business slapped with fine after pleading guilty to dumping rubbish

Stumpy’s Shack, an eatery in Wolverton, pleaded guilty at Milton Keynes Magistrates Court on Friday, November 20.

In September 2019, an enforcement officer from Wolverton and Greenleys Town Council came across four bags of waste containing take away packaging that was left out for domestic collection by Stumpy's Shack.

When recording the incident, officers were approached by Stumpy’s Shack staff admitting the waste belonged to the business and were placed outside for normal collection. Staff later removed the bags.

MK Council’s environmental crime unit were notified and requested to see their waste documentation, but the company failed to produce it.

In failing to do this, a Fixed Penalty Notice was issued to them for this offence, but no payment was received, and the business was the reported for summons.

Stuart Atkinson, a director of New City Holdings MK Ltd which owns Stumpy’s Shack, attended court on behalf of the company and pleaded guilty.

Magistrates fined them £300 and ordered them to pay the council’s legal and investigation costs of £453.08. The company were also ordered to pay a £32 victim surcharge.

Milton Keynes Council's Emily Darlington said: “For the last 18 months we have been cracking down on fly tipping and waste dumping. After initial success, Covid-19 has seen a rise nationally in these offences. Due to limited court capacity, we are only now seeing these cases come to court. More will no doubt follow.

“Everybody, businesses and individuals, has a duty to dispose of their waste correctly and only have it taken away by authorised persons. If you don’t, you are not only breaking the law but letting down the community. We all need to play our part in making MK the Greenest City."