A Co Armagh waste firm, its manager and landowner have been fined for a number fuel laundering offences.

Transco Waste Ltd, Vivian Devlin and Paul Devlin were fined a total of £8,000 at Newry Crown Court after they pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing.

Officers from the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA), HMRC and the PSNI visited a site on Concession Road, Cullaville, Crossmaglen on 30 October 2013 where they uncovered significant quantities of fuel laundering waste, deliberately hidden under genuine waste within a shed on the company's premises. The shed was 25 metres away from a primary school playing field.

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Documentation was subsequently received by the NIEA to show that the company had paid over £4,000 to have the approximately 14 tonnes of waste sent to an authorised site.

An NIEA spokesperson said: "This represents a significant positive outcome insofar as the law has been upheld and convictions secured. However, importantly, the offending waste has also been removed at the expense of the defendants. This means that the environment has been protected without significant cost to the taxpayer."

(CD/LM)