Car crushed after fly tipping

lep.co.uk
Feb. 10, 2007

An expensive 4 x 4 vehicle was ruthlessly crushed – without its owner's knowledge.

The Mitsubishi Shogun, which can cost up to Ł35,000, was seized and destroyed after its driver was spotted dumping rubbish.

Determined council bosses hunted down the vehicle to an address in Leyland following a spate of incidents last year when large quantities of tyres were dumped in various parts of Wigan.

In March a concerned member of the public alerted the council's specialist fly-tipping enforcement team to dumped tyres near Spring Bank Industrial Estate in Platt Bridge.

In September another resident saw a man dumping tyres on land off Westwood Lane, Ince.

Two days later the same man was back committing a similar offence at the same spot.

Investigations centred on a Shogun which was seen speeding away from the scene.

Once the vehicle was traced, Wigan Council used powers under the Disposal of Controlled Waste Regulations 1991 to seize the vehicle from an address in Leyland.

It was crushed at a breaker's yard yesterday.

Officials at Wigan Metro say the move demonstrates their tough stance on illegal dumping.

Fly-tipping enforcement team manager Dave Bithell said: "The owner faces a hefty fine or even a jail term, so we don't expect him to be coming forward at this stage.

"What we have done instead is crush his vehicle and send out the message that environmental vandalism will not be tolerated.

"We will investigate and will do whatever we can to prosecute those involved."