A woman from Mainstone has been ordered to pay more than £600 for fly-tipping an old shed behind her home.
Sarah Whitley, 40, of Colwill Road, pleaded guilty in front of Plymouth Magistrates Court on Monday.
The court heard how in February 2021, the Council were alerted to waste (pictured left) on green space behind Colwill Road.
An enforcement officer investigated and was able to connect the waste to Whitley, who was then contacted for an explanation. Whitley said she did not realise that she couldn't keep waste outside the boundary of her property and that she had placed it there temporarily while a sewage leak in her garden was repaired.
Whitley was then issued with a fixed penalty notice for £400 but when two months later it was not paid, she was issued with a summons to court.
Due to her limited means, she was fined £80, but ordered to pay costs of £508 and a victim surcharge of £34, totalling £222 more than if she had paid the original fixed penalty notice. She will also hold a criminal record.
Councillor Maddi Bridgeman, Cabinet member for the Environment and Street Scene, said: "Another week, another fly-tipper prosecuted.
"This case goes to show that ignorance is not a defence and that if you have waste you want to get rid of, keep it on your property until such a time that you can responsibility dispose of it.
"We have a zero tolerance policy and we're not afraid to enforce it."