Two Pendle residents have been fined more than £2,700 between them for persistently dumping waste on a back street.

Leader of Pendle Borough Council, Councillor Asjad Mahmood said: “With the Nelson Town Deal, we are trying our best to breathe new life into Nelson and make it a better place to live. This kind of behaviour is not helping with what we are trying to achieve.”

Dimitar Dobrev Dimitrov, of Hendon Road, Nelson, was fined a total of £1,408 for persistently pouring drums of waste cooking oil on the back streets and down drains.

He was issued a fixed penalty notice but did not pay. The case ended up at Burnley Magistrates' Court where, in his absence, he was found guilty of tipping the oil in Hendon Road, Nelson, and fined £660 and ordered to pay costs of £484, as well as a £264 victim surcharge to a total to pay of £1,408.

Gizella Lakatos, of Larch Street, Nelson, was fined for persistently dumping waste on a back street.

She was issued a fixed penalty notice and ordered to pay £150.

Her failure to pay meant her case was also referred to Burnley Magistrates' Court. In her absence, she was found guilty of dumping waste in Larch Street, Nelson. She was fined £660 and ordered to pay costs of £412, along with a £264 victim surcharge, bringing the total to £1,336.

Councillor Zafar Ali, who has responsibility for Environment and Climate Change, said: "I'm pleased these cases have led to successful prosecutions, to demonstrate just how seriously both Pendle Borough Council and the courts look upon these crimes.”

Pendle Borough Council's Assistant Director of Operational Services, David Walker added: “These cases represent a small number of offences we are investigating. The successful prosecutions allow us to show that we take environmental crime very seriously and our officers will continue to work hard to bring offenders to task.”