A County Down man has been fined for waste offences.

Jonathon Irvine, aged 55, was fined £4,000 for waste offences after pleading guilty at Newry Magistrates Court.

The offences related to the unauthorised disposal on controlled waste at a site owned by Mr Irvine adjacent to 109 Longstone road, Annalong.

Officers from the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) visited the site on several occasions from November 2017 to February 2019. They discovered it did not have an NIEA license to keep or treat controlled waste.

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Mr Irvine became the registered owner of the site on the 20 March 2018 and since that date, a significant quantity of waste was deposited on the site.

Additional waste was discovered on the site during each subsequent visit. He was issued a formal notice to remove the waste and further visits revealed that the waste had not been removed. Mr Irvine failed to respond to a request to be interviewed under caution and a prosecution file was submitted to the Public Prosecution Service who commenced criminal proceedings against Mr Irvine.

Mr Irvine subsequently pleaded guilty to eight waste charges under The Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order 1997.