Company responsible for illegal waste fined £20k

A Sheffield company and its director have been given a month to clear an illegal waste site or risk further court action.

Concept Investments Limited, of London Road, Sheffield, and its director, Austin Fitzgerald, 65, of the same address have been ordered to pay fines and costs of more than £20,000 after an Environment Agency (EA) investigation.

Both had previously pleaded guilty in February to allowing an illegal waste site to operate on land the company owns, which is known as the Former Stanley Works, on Rutland Road, Sheffield.

Both appeared at South Yorkshire Magistrates' Court for sentencing on Wednesday 15 April.

The EA made several visits to the site over a three-year period between 2022 and 2025 prior to bringing case to court.

On 7 July 2022 during a visit, they found a large amount of mixed waste, including fridges and other electrical items and inert waste such as soil and stones.

In a follow up visit later that year, the agency told the occupier he could not store waste without a permit and gave him six weeks to clear it.

In January 2023, officers inspected the site and found that had not been done and that new waste had accumulated.

A formal notice requiring the site to be cleared by 5 June 2023 was then issued but not complied with.

In late 2024 and early 2025, complaints were received about the burning of waste, and the operator was advised by Sheffield City Council to cease burning.

In March 2025, Fitzgerald was interviewed by the EA and said that he inspected the site regularly.

Another visit in April 2025 revealed there was still waste on the site.

In total, the company was fined £8,000, ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £2,000 and costs of £5,442, while Fitzgerald was sentenced to a 12-month community order with 140 hours of unpaid work, and was ordered to pay costs of £5442 and a victim surcharge of £114.

Fitzgerald was also ordered to clear the site by 18 May or face further action.

Ben Hocking, area environment manager for the EA, said: "It's clear that Fitzgerald and the company were well aware of what was happening on that land, and they repeatedly ignored our requests to stop operations and clear the waste.

"Waste criminals damage our communities and we are cracking down across the sector on those flouting the regulations.

"This should serve as a warning for landowners that if you allow illegal waste activity to take place on your land, we will take action."

Another man charged in relation to the same site has pleaded not guilty to operating a regulated facility without an environmental permit, with a trial listed for 11 February 2027.

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