A businessman has been prosecuted for illegally dumping tonnes of construction waste and other materials in Brighton.

Daniel Brennan, of 17 St Cuthmans Close, Brighton admitted to six offences of flytipping under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. He was ordered to pay £3,943.52 - £188 fine on each of the six offence totalling £1,128, more than £2,645 in costs and a surcharge of £170.

Mr Brennan traded as Sussex House and Rubbish Clearance and collected bulky items from households, pubs and building sites.

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However, instead of disposing of the waste properly, environment enforcement officers discovered he had ditched many of the items on Whitehawk Road and Wilson Avenue.

Mr Brennan, defended himself but pleaded guilty, claiming his business partner had disposed of the 5.7 tons of rubbish without his knowledge after they had a fall out.

Cllr Gill Mitchell said: "This prosecution sends out a clear message to people who carry out flytipping in our city – you will be found, you will be caught and you will be prosecuted.

"What's most upsetting about this case is Mr Brennan had set himself up as a business to collect people's unwanted rubbish and charge them to dispose of it, as they thought, legally. Instead, he chose to dump it on public land.

"Fly-tipping is not only illegal, it is irresponsible and can spread disease, encourage vermin and release toxic chemicals into the environment. It also means hazardous objects and chemicals are lying around where young children could be harmed."

(LM)