A waste disposal business has been fined for building an illegal mountain of rubbish on Beddington Lane.

The company behind the waste ground, Rubbish Express, and owner Przemyslaw Zalecki, have been prosecuted after they heaped piles and piles of rubbish to the equivalent of more than 80 double-decker buses were heaped on the site.

It had been operating a waste transfer station illegally and had failed to comply with a notice requiring the removal of controlled waste.

The company was taken to court after they repeatedly ignored warnings and the piles of rubbish continued to increase.

At the hearing on November 8, at Croydon Magistrates’ Court the company was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £10,000.

Zalecki was personally fined £400 and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £400.

Environment officer Peter Ehmann said: “We visited this site on many occasions to help Mr Zalecki bring his organisation into compliance with the law, but found him repeatedly flouting the law.

“This kind of activity has serious effects on local people, legitimate business as well as the environment.

“Waste had been piled so high that it caused a fence to collapse and intruded on to adjoining land owned by the Royal Mail.

“There have also been complaints in relation to dust generation at the site.”

“While prosecution is our last resort, we will not tolerate companies seeking to profit from illegal waste activity at the expense of lawful, legitimate waste operators.

“We hope that the decision today sends out a message that waste operators have serious responsibilities, and that as the regulator we will enforce these responsibilities rigorously.”