A Plymouth man is facing a bill for thousands of pounds after the dumping of a high-profile fridge-freezer caught up with him.
Darren Ivey, aged 52 of White Friars Lane in St Judes, appeared before Plymouth Magistrates Court on Thursday for his trial after pleading not guilty to the offence of fly-tipping.
The court heard how a fridge freezer was recovered from Military Road in Efford with large sticker of the cartoon character Daffy Duck on the front last March
Knowing that the fridge was distinctive, the Council's Environmental Enforcement team put out a plea on Facebook, asking residents if they recognised it and who it might belong to. The post was viewed by nearly 50,000 and was also picked up by Plymouth Live.
As a result, the Council were contacted by the fridge's original owner, who explained that they had paid a Licensed Waste Disposal company called G's Man and Van Services Southwest to dispose of it.
Council officers swiftly contacted G's Man and Van Services Southwest. The investigation led to Ivey , who was working for the company at the time, and he admitted the offence.
G's Southwest were issued a £300 fixed penalty notice for failing to produce a waste transfer note while Ivey was asked to pay a £400 fixed penalty notice for fly-tipping.
While the company FPN was paid, Ivey ignored all reminders and was summonsed to court.
Mr Ivey denied at trial he was responsible for fly tipping the fridge freezer.
Finding him guilty after a short hearing, the Magistrates fined Ivey £3,000, ordered him to pay costs of £1,425 in costs to the Council and a £190 victim surcharge. He now has a criminal record.
Councillor Maddi Bridgeman, Cabinet member for the Environment and Street Scene, said: "I'm pleased to see the defendant brought to justice and I'm pleased, too, that the Magistrates imposed such a large fine.
"I think that this case is testament to the hard work of Council officers who used social media to such great effect to catch the perpetrator.
"Nobody likes fly-tipping and our environmental enforcement team do a splendid job of ensuring that it won't be tolerated in Plymouth."
Fed up of fly-tipping in your area? Report fly-tipping to us so that we can investigate.