Can I really face a £50,000 fine for dropping flies on common land? DEAN DUNHAM responds

A sign on a common near me says: ‘Fly tipping is prohibited.

Maximum fine of £50,000.’ It’s an area where I’ve seen this happen, but I’m curious if a person who throws away an old mattress could really be fined that amount.

RG, South West London.

Dean Dunham responds: In reality, the answer is no, since the fine would clearly be disproportionate. However, that doesn’t mean that a tipper can simply get away with what is actually an illegal action.

There are several avenues the owner could pursue. Firstly, the owner could report the incident to local authorities and the police, which could lead to criminal action and a fine by the city council.

However, this would be more likely when fly-tipping took place on “public” land.

However, the downside to this approach is that it could backfire on the landowner. This is because waste dumping is the only crime where the victims (private owners) have a legal responsibility to dispose of the waste and the law says that owners can be prosecuted if they do not do so.

The other route a landowner can take is to take the landowner to court (if they can identify him or her) and claim compensation for the cost of removing the waste.

Of course, this would not be £50,000 in the scenario you have described, but it would mean that the owner of the land was not left out of money.

That being said, the most effective remedy for a landowner, who has been a victim of fly tipping or believes they are about to become a victim, is to petition the court for an injunction. This is a court order that requires someone to stop or not do something in the first place (in this case, tipping).

This is a lawsuit before the courts, which is filed against “unknown persons.” This means that the landowner does not have to know the name or names of the person(s) doing the dumping and this is acceptable to the courts.

Once a warrant order is issued, it can be prominently displayed on the site so that potential dumpers know that there is a warrant in effect.

Anyone who fails to comply with the order may be in contempt of court, leading to fines, seizure of property (e.g. vehicles) and possibly imprisonment. This therefore constitutes an important deterrent.

How can I deal with my nightmare neighbors?

The cabin next door has annoying tenants. I contacted the leasing agent, but he tells me that the owner is difficult to reach and practically shrugs his shoulders. What are my rights?

CJ, via email.

Dean Dunham responds: First, I want to dispel the myth that landlords are responsible for noisy tenants; In most circumstances, this is simply not true.

This position has been confirmed by the Court of Appeal in a case called Mowan v Wandsworth LBC. The only exception would be where the owner actually authorized the noise or nuisance, which in most cases will be unlikely.

When you have tenant neighbors who are bothering you, the first step is to approach the property owner or his managing agent as you have done.

Therefore, the landlord or his agent is in a unique position to demand that the tenant behave and threaten eviction. In this regard, under Schedule 2 of the Housing Act 1988, excessive noise and other nuisances may be grounds for evicting a tenant.

If neither your neighbors nor your landlords are willing to help, the next step is to keep a diary for a few weeks, recording the precise dates and times that your neighbors cause a nuisance, and, armed with this, approach the town hall. and complaining that your neighbor is causing a “legal nuisance.”

A legal nuisance is any activity that is unreasonable or excessive and causes substantial interference with the enjoyment of your home, repeated on a regular basis (daily or at least three or four times a week). By law, councils must investigate complaints of legal nuisances.

If your council decides that a legal nuisance is occurring, it can take action to stop it and impose fines (usually up to £5,000) if your neighbors persist.