A CONSTRUCTION company convicted of dumping waste in Burnley and Colne, has had its fine cut by £9,000.

EOM Construction Ltd saved £180,000 by using Sansbury Quarry, Knotts Lane, Colne, formerly run by ex-skip operator Michael Kokocinski, who last week was jailed for eight months for running an illegal tip.

The firm, of Sandfold Lane, Levenshulme, had earlier been fined £10,000 for each of three offences and been ordered to pay £797 costs to the Environment Agency which brought the prosecution.

It had pleaded guilty to depositing and keeping controlled waste on land at Rosegrove Iron Works, White Street, Burnley, and depositing controlled waste at Sansbury Quarry.

EOM appealed against sentence at Burnley Crown Court, where Judge Edward Slinger, sitting with two justices, reduced each fine to £7,000 and ordered £1,600 costs, after the firm's legal representatives had argued the waste was safe.

Reedley magistrates had earlier been told an Environment Agency enforcement officer saw a truck from the company tipping waste at Sansbury Quarry in April last year.

Waste skips, soil, timber, green plastic piping, bricks and concrete were found at Rosegrove during an inspection in May.

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