Long Bennington illegal waste site operator sentenced over breaches

A business owner who admitted illegally operating a waste site in Lincolnshire before quitting it and leaving tonnes of waste behind has been sentenced.

Samual Hussan, of Newark, dumped more than 2,000 tonnes of waste at the Sammy Recycling Ltd site in Long Bennington in 2019, the Environment Agency said.

Hussan pleaded guilty to charges relating to waste disposal.

At Lincoln Magistrates' Court, Hussan was handed a suspended 26-week prison sentence and fined more than £2,000.

Environment Agency staff first visited the Fen Lane site in August 2018 following complaints from local residents.

Exemptions were in place for waste to be processed at the site, however the agency said these were not being fully complied with.

After speaking to Hussan about their concerns, investigators returned the following month to find some waste was no longer being separated properly, which was a further breach, the agency said.

In February 2019, the agency was informed that Hussan had quit the site, leaving behind 1,600 tonnes of plastic, 510 tonnes of carpet, 45 tonnes of wipes and 26 tonnes of paper.

In April that year, officers found some of the waste had since been sold, but there was evidence some remaining waste had been burned.

At an earlier court hearing, Hussan pleaded not guilty, but later changed his plea to guilty.

He admitted operating a waste site without an environmental permit and keeping waste in a manner likely to pollute the environment or harm human health arising from the risk of fire.

Appearing at Lincoln Magistrates' Court on 6 May, Hussan, 61, of Bevercotes Close, Newark, was sentenced to 26 weeks in prison, suspended for two years.

He was also told to pay £2,000 in costs, plus a victim surcharge of £115.

Sammy Recycling Ltd was also fined £1,000, the Environment Agency said.

Yvonne Daly, from the agency, said: "We expect businesses to take responsibility for their operations which Mr Hussan failed to do and, in the process, left the local population at risk."

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