A gardener had his van seized and crushed after he dumped three tonnes of waste at a cemetery in Almondbury.

Curt Gurog, 36, of Rawthorpe, admitted three offences under Section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 when he appeared at Kirklees Magistrates’ Court.

Gurog, who was trading under the names Curt’s Landscaping and Beautiful Gardens, was caught on CCTV on two occasions fly-tipping approximately three tons of garden and building waste in the disposal bays at Hey Lane Cemetery. He was identified by his vehicle registration.

At court in Huddersfield Gurog pleaded guilty to two offences of failing to comply with his duty of care in relation to the transfer of his business waste, and an offence of failing to provide waste transfer notes.

He was fined £1,339, with a victim surcharge of £536 and was ordered to pay clearance and legal costs totalling £1,670.

His Ford Transit Tipper, which was caught on CCTV, was seized. It was found to be unroadworthy and was destroyed by the council.

The council also used CCTV footage to catch another fly-tipping offender.

Richard Lawn, 40, of The Heights, Leeds, took a payment of £230 from an unsuspecting Kirklees resident to dispose of some household waste, which included old flooring and packaging from new kitchen appliances.

However, instead of disposing of it legally, he dumped it on Smithies Lane and Church Street in Heckmondwike.

At Kirklees Magistrates’ Court Lawn admitted two offences under Section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (fly-tipping).

He was fined £1,400, a £560 victim surcharge and ordered to pay clearance and legal costs of £1,269. His Citroen Picasso was seized and disposed of by the council.

The customer who paid him to take away the rubbish was issued a Fixed Penalty Notice fine of £200 for failing to ensure the safe transfer of his household waste.

Clr Aafaq Butt, Cabinet member for the environment, said: “I hope that these prosecutions will reinforce our zero-tolerance approach to fly-tipping in Kirklees.

“Our communities should not be blighted by people who think they can dump waste on our streets and green spaces, to the detriment of residents, wildlife and the environment.

“Following previous incidents of fly-tipping at Hey Lane Cemetery, which should be a place for quiet contemplation to pay respects to loved ones, we installed CCTV to catch offenders, which has proved fruitful in this case and will hopefully deter others from offending in the future.

“The Heckmondwike case highlights the importance of checking private companies who are collecting waste. They should be registered with the Environment Agency and have paperwork showing their full contact details and a description of the waste taken.

“It also helps if residents take the vehicle registration the waste carrier uses to help officers trace the waste if it ends up being fly-tipped.”

Anyone spotting fly-tipping or wanting to report an incident to the council can do it at www.kirklees.gov.uk/flytipping