A man from Poole, Dorset, has been given a suspended prison sentence at Swindon Magistrates Court, after pleading guilty to a fly-tipping offence in Wiltshire.

Mark Rutterford of Highview Gardens, Poole, pleaded guilty to fly-tipping a large horsebox containing waste and blocking a private residential driveway on the A354 in Rockbourne, Wiltshire. At the hearing, held on Friday 23 May, he was given an 18-month suspended sentence, which was reduced to a 12-month sentence, suspended for two years after being given credit for his early guilty plea. He must also pay a total of £4,837.70 in compensation and costs. He was sentenced under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

Wiltshire Council’s Environment Enforcement Officers received the initial report of a fly-tipped horsebox in October 2024. When officers visited the site, they found a horsebox in the middle of a private driveway, preventing the residents from accessing their property.

The horsebox was found to contain assorted waste including tyres, alloy wheels, gas cannisters and cuts of wood. A small amount of household waste was also found, where officers found a small envelope addressed to Mr Rutterford.

After initially denying responsibility for the fly-tip, stating instead that two individuals had offered to take it away for him, Mr Rutterford eventually admitted that he had lied and that he had in fact dumped the horsebox on the driveway.

Due to the inconvenience being caused to the local resident, a decision was made to urgently remove the fly-tip, at a cost to the council of £1525.70, and to pursue a criminal prosecution.

Cllr Martin Smith, Cabinet Member for Highways, Street scene and Flooding, said: “I would like to thank our Enforcement Team for acting swiftly in this extreme case of fly-tipping and for bringing Mr Rutterford to justice. The sentence he has been given today shows just how serious this case was, and the inconvenience and stress caused to the residents by his actions.

“Fly-tipping is a blight to our beautiful Wiltshire countryside and can have serious consequences. In this instance, residents were unable to enter or leave their own house due to the horsebox blocking their driveway, and emergency services would not have been able to get to them if required.

“We take fly-tipping very seriously in Wiltshire, and I hope this sends a clear message to anyone thinking about fly-tipping – we will not hesitate to prosecute.”