A WOMAN who ran an illegal scrapyard has been fined £2,000 by the Environment Agency

Mary Smith, formerly known as Mary Varey, pleaded guilty to two charges at Hyndburn Magistrates Court and was also ordered to pay £600 towards costs.

Estelle Palin, prosecuting on behalf of the Environment Agency, told the court that an officer received a report of a fire atThe Pallet Yard in Meadow Street, Great Harwood, on July 15, 2001.

Agency officers visited the site and found evidence that a scrapyard was operating. They saw the remains of scrap vehicles that appeared to have been burned on the premises.

The site was not licensed by the agency to be used for the storage of scrap and in any case a waste management licence would not allow waste of any kind to be burned there.

When the officers visited the yard again on July 24, 2001, they saw around 100 scrap vehicles, some of which were burnt out, as well as scrap tyres and old pallets.

Smith was on site and confirmed that she owned the premises. The officers explained that the waste in the yard was being stored illegally and that it must be removed and taken to a licensed waste management facility.

Smith asked for some time to clear up the yard.

However, when officers checked the site again in October, 2001, and January 2002, little progress had been made.

Smith suggested that she would be able to clear the site in 90 days and a notice was served on January 11 requiring Smith to clear the yard of waste by April 12, 2002.

When the agency returned to check on April 16, scrap vehicles and used tyres were still being stored there. By August the yard was again being used for breaking up scrap vehicles.

Although the site is now being cleared, the court agreed that despite three verbal warnings and a formal written notice, the waste had not been removed within the agreed period.