A BUILDING company has been fined a total of £1,250 after admitting the illegal dumping of waste by burning on land at Euxton, near Leyland.

Site manager Mark Oddy, a representative of the developer Blackthorn Homes Limited pleaded guilty to a charge of illegal burning on the land off Runshaw Lane, Euxton, at Leyland Magistrates' Court.

Material burnt in the blaze included plastic sheeting and coving, cardboard, timber, an aerosol and a light bulb.

As well as being fined for the offence under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, the company was also ordered to pay £586.36 costs to the Environment Agency, which brought the charges.

Mr Bradley, prosecuting for the agency, told Leyland magistrates that Environment Agency enforcement officers visited the development site on October 3 2001 to find that a fire was burning when they arrived.

Smoke could have caused a nuisance to users of the nearby road and people living in neighbouring homes.

Mr Bradley also said that Blackthorn Homes had been warned by the agency about its waste management on the site.

It had received a verbal warning about disposal of waste by burning and the failure to respond to previous warnings aggravated the October offence.