A skip hire company boss has been ordered to pay a total of £1,265 for illegally dumping waste on Bradford Council land.

Neil Bland, 32, owner of Town & Country Skips, in Denholme, pleaded guilty to the offence at Bradford Magistrates’ Court.

He was fined £750 and ordered to pay £500 costs and a £15 victim surcharge last Wednesday.

The court was told the offence arose after he became involved in a payment dispute with a customer and emptied the skip of rubble and muck over what he assumed was the customer’s land in Haycliffe Lane, Little Horton, Bradford.

Bland told magistrates he had provided a number of skips to the customer but that on the last occasion he had not been paid.

After the case John Major, the council’s assistant director of environmental health, said: “Bradford Council is committed to taking legal action against those who illegally dump their rubbish, causing a nuisance to residents and businesses in the district.

“Fly-tipping is a serious offence, which could attract a jail sentence, and we hope this sends out a message to others that it will not be tolerated in Bradford.

“Skip hire firms have a huge environmental responsibility to dispose of waste properly and should know better.

“The costs awarded to the council include the £388 it cost us to clean up the mess Mr Bland left on the road.”