Leeds Scrap Dealer Fined £8,000 for Storing Without Licence
Wednesday 15 February 2006
A scrap car dealer was fined £8,000 yesterday on two charges involving waste materials from motor vehicles.
Mohammed Aslam, 49, of Headingley Terrace, Leeds 6, pleaded guilty and was also ordered to pay full costs of £1,985 to the Environment Agency which brought the case, at Leeds Magistrates Court.
The magistrates said that there were few mitigating features to the case, and several aggravating ones. They also said that had Aslam been wealthier the fine would have been much higher.
Ben Reid, prosecuting for the Agency, told the court that the offences related to the End of Life Vehicle Regulations, which stated that scrap yards storing vehicles with potentially polluting substances such as oil, batteries and antifreeze needed a waste management licence.
Aslam was charged with not having a waste management licence at his scrap yard at Botany Bay Yard, Canal Road, Leeds. The other charge was that he had kept the vehicles in a manner likely to cause pollution.
The Agency had informed Aslam on three occasions - by two letters and in person - that he needed a waste management license. Aslam had failed to respond.
On visiting the site officers discovered that there were 20 vehicles with polluting substances present stored in a wooden-floored building next to the Leeds Canal. The floor of the building was not sealed to prevent fluids escaping, and there was no interceptor drain to catch pollution.
The fines were of £4,000 for each charge.
In mitigation it was said that there had been a family dispute over ownership of the site and that Aslam had been ill. The site’s annual turnover was stated to be £50,000.