A COMPANY has been fined £2,000 and £403.90 in costs for dumping controlled waste on the land of a Burnley hotel.

Rolfe Carpets Ltd of Hollin Bank, Brierfield was prosecuted by the Environment Agency and appeared before Reedley Magistrates.

Matt Lockett, prosecuting for the Agency, told the court an Environmental Protection Manager for Burnley Council spotted a large white van with its rear doors open outside the Derby Hotel on Padiham Road, Burnley on October 27, 2001.

The officer then saw three men throwing wood from the van on to the land, pavement and road. She approached them saying she worked for the council and believed they were dumping rubbish on private land.

Mr Lockett said the men then claimed the hotel landlady had given them permission to dump the wood there and refused to reload the vehicle.

But when the officer checked this with the landlady she was told no one had been asked to dump rubbish by owners of the hotel and land -- Thwaites Brewery -- who had recently cleared the site and did not want anything dumped there.

The Environment Agency were informed about the incident and confirmed the land next to the Derby Hotel did not have a Waste Management Licence.