A WASTE operator who held illegal bonfires despite consistent warnings from environment bosses has been jailed for more than a year.

Wayne Mixture, of Damases Lane, Boreham, had large quantities of commercial and household waste on his site.

This included plastics, paper, fabric, as well as construction and demolition waste.

Despite numerous warnings from Environment Agency officers about depositing, storing, burning and treating waste, Mixture failed to clear it and continued to have illegal bonfires.

The court heard he ran the site between August 2017 and December 2020.

Environment Agency officers visited the site numerous times and made every effort to work with Mixture.

Representing the Environment Agency, Rebecca Chalkley said Mixture had been given “chance after chance” to clear the waste and to work with the EA.

However, he failed to clear his site, and did not provide waste transfer notes, showing where his waste had gone as required in law.

Despite this, the site remained a risk to the environment and undermined competitors who operated within the law.

Miss Recorder Frost, sentencing, told Mixture he had shown “deliberate and wilful continuation of a failure to comply with notices and periods of non-compliance”.

She said: “It is clear to me that you had absolutely no intention of complying with the notices. You were defiant against those seeking to enforce.”

The 52-year-old was jailed for 13 months and issued with a court remediation order.

The order sets out that he must clear waste from the site by March 31, 2024, or face contempt of court proceedings.

He was also ordered to pay £5,000 costs at Chelmsford Crown Court on January 20.

Environment Agency enforcement team leader Lesley Robertson said: “Despite the Environment Agency serving statutory notices on Mixture to remove waste from his site, he continued to deposit, store and treat waste illegally without an environmental permit.

“Mixture operated at a distinct commercial advantage, undermining legitimate business with little or no regard for the environment or residents.

“We take illegal waste activity very seriously and will take the necessary action to disrupt criminal activity and prosecute those responsible.

“By imposing this prison sentence and remediation order, it demonstrates how seriously the court views Mr Mixture’s activities and behaviour.”