AN ANDOVER business has been fined for fly-tipping an array of items in a town churchyard.

Abacus Employment Services, based in High Street, admitted to dumping commercial waste near the cenotaph in St Mary’s church in February this year.

At Basingstoke Magistrates Court on Thursday, June 14, the firm also pleaded guilty to neglecting to ensure they had a commercial waste contract.

Magistrates ordered the business to pay a fine of £1,000, along with court costs of £1,990 and a victim surcharge of £100.

The prosecution has been welcomed by Test Valley Borough Council.

Environmental portfolio holder, Councillor Graham Stallard, said: “We will not tolerate fly-tipping in our borough and although this is not what one may consider a usual fly-tip, it is an unlawful deposit of waste in a sensitive location. We investigate all reports of fly-tipping and incidents will be taken through to prosecution with sufficient evidence.

“The council is taking this opportunity to remind businesses that they have a duty to ensure that any waste they produce is handled safely and in accordance with the law. This ‘duty of care’ applies to anyone who produces, imports, carries, keeps, treats or disposes of controlled waste from business or industry or acts as a waste broker in this respect.”

More than one million incidents of fly-tipping were dealt with by councils in England in 2016-17, costing taxpayers £58million to clear up.