A CHESHAM company has been fined £1,000 for illegally fly-tipping a huge pile of plastic in the town.

Flower Plastics Ltd, a plastic bag manufacturer which is no longer in business, according to council officers, was convicted at Amersham Magistrates Court.

The firm, formerly based in Springfield Road, Chesham, dumped a large amount of waste plastic at the recycling centre in Botley Road, Chesham, on July 22, last year.

Flower Plastics was also convicted for a failure in its duty of care but received no separate penalty for this offence.

The plastic bag manufacturer and its director, Sohail Bagheri Chahga-Siahi, 30, were prosecuted by Buckinghamshire County Council on behalf of the Waste Partnership for Buckinghamshire which wants to cut fly-tipping rates in the county.

John Warder, Chiltern District Council's cabinet member for environmental management and also chairman of the joint waste committee for Buckinghamshire, said: "The dumping of waste at recycling sites that are not materials which are provided for at the recycling site or are not placed in the correct containers provided is fly-tipping, as is seen by this conviction.

"This applies not only to commercial firms but to householders as well. Please help us to keep our recycling sites clean and tidy by not fly-tipping in this manner."

Members of the partnership include the county council, Chiltern District Council, Wycombe District Council, South Bucks District Council and Aylesbury Vale District Council.

The court heard that the company had hired a Transit van and taken plastic waste to the recycling centre where the dumping had been witnessed by someone who lived nearby.

The court also heard that the company had no Waste Agreement in place and had not sought any advice with regards to its waste management arrangements.

Mr Bagheri Chahga-Siahi, of Chiltern Heights, White Lion Road, Amersham was also convicted of the fly-tipping and duty of care offences and received a conditional discharge for two years and was ordered to pay £500 costs.

The company had pleaded guilty to both offences. It was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay £500 costs.

Mr Bagheri Chahga-Siahi was inavailable for comment.