A MAN who fly tipped huge piles of waste in the Haworth countryside claimed he had “no alternative.”

On April 19 large piles of waste, including cardboard boxes and plastic wrapping, were discovered on Brow Top Road and Penistone Hill Country Park.

When crews from Bradford Council came to remove the waste, they found numerous boxes had the address of a Manningham company, My Perfect Gift.

On Tuesday one of the directors of that company appeared in court alongside the man who dumped the waste, and were ordered to pay hundreds of pounds in fines and costs.

Mohammed Sabeel Jamil, of Morningside, admitted to two counts of fly tipping, telling the court he was the man who dumped the waste at the two beauty spots.

Mohammed Iftakar, of Ollerdale Close, Allerton, admitted failing to ensure a person who he had paid to dispose of their waste – Jamil – was a legitimate waste disposal worker.

He also admitted the same charges on behalf of the company – based on Manningham Lane.

Enis Rice, prosecuting on behalf of Bradford Council, said fly tipping was a major problem, with the Council called to 45 such incidents every day.

In 2021 there were 16,000 call outs to fly tipping, costing the taxpayer hundreds of thousands of pounds to clear.

He added: “There is no excuse whatsoever for fly tipping.”

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Mr Rice said enforcement officers visited the owner of My Perfect Gift, who informed them that he was ill at the time of the incident and Iftakar was in charge.

When interviewed Iftakar said he had paid Jamil £500 to dispose of the business waste, and admitted he failed to check if he was a registered waste trader.

When Jamil was interviewed he admitted he had fly tipped the waste. Mr Rice told the court: “He knew he failed to dispose of it legally and that he was not a registered waste carrier.

“He said it was his intention to give it to a friend to dispose of, but his friend let him down and he had no alternative but to tip the waste.”

Penistone Hill Country Park is over 10 miles away from the Manningham Lane business.

In Iftakar’s defence the court heard that with the company boss ill with Covid 19, the responsibility to dispose of company waste had fallen to him for the first time. He made inquiries about people with vans and was given Jamil’s details.

Magistrates were told that Iftakar had been assured the waste would be disposed of legally, and was “thoroughly ashamed” to appear in court.

When Jamil was asked if he had anything to say in his defence he told the court: “No.”

Alistair Vigus, chair of the bench, said: “This bench takes a dim view of fly tipping.

“In this case short cuts had been taken, whether to reduce costs or to make a financial gain.”

He said Iftakar had been negligent in his role as a company director.

Mr Vigus said the photos of the fly tipping showed plastic strapping in the waste, and raised concerns that animals could get trapped in this waste. He added: “That concerns us greatly. Had it not been for the swift response of the Council in clearing this waste it could have got an awful lot worse – this waste could have attracted wildlife that would go on to pay the ultimate price.”

Jamil was ordered to pay a fine of £1,689, £573 costs, £380 compensation and a £169 surcharge – a total of £2,811.

Mr Vigus told him: “You deliberately decided to dispose of this waste illegally. You told us a friend let you down, but you have produced no evidence to show that.”

Iftakar was ordered to pay a £800 fine, £380 compensation, an £80 surcharge, and £573 costs.

My Perfect Gift were ordered to pay a £1,500 fine, £573 costs and a surcharge of £150.