A THIRD man has pleaded guilty to dumping household waste on Lee Drove, near Romsey.

Gordon Freeman, 38, of Fairdown Close, St Giles Hill, Winchester, admitted to the offence at Southampton Magistrates' Court on Friday, October 6.

He will be sentenced on Friday, December 15.

Hampshire Chronicle: Image from the trail camera showing Freeman, Haines and Hill

As previously reported, a covert trail camera caught Freeman, along with David Hill, 69, and Stuart Haines, 43,  removing rubbish, which included a fridge, from the back of a vehicle and throwing it into a hedge on June 19, 2022.

The vehicle was registered to Hill’s business, DH Autos.

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Hill, of Cosworth Drive, Dibden, and Haines, of Pyle Gardens, Kings Barton, Winchester, attended an interview under caution, where they admitted to dumping the waste.

The pair appeared at Southampton Magistrates Court on Friday, October 6 where they were each given a 12-month community order, a fine of £120 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £114 and costs of £303.

Test Valley Borough Council portfolio holder for environmental services, Cllr David Drew, said: “Illegally dumping waste in Test Valley will never be acceptable and I’m glad to see another result like this. Our teams work extremely hard to keep the borough clean and incidents like this cost money and use up valuable resources. We have a brilliant record of catching people fly-tipping and that will continue to be the case.”