A Llanelli landowner appeared at Llanelli Magistrates Court and admitted two charges of permitting the deposit of controlled waste without an environmental permit and allowing the incineration of controlled waste on the site.
On 22nd October 2019, the Mid and West Wales Fire & Rescue Service (MWFRS) were informed of a large fire at a property owned by Samantha Prynne. When they attended the fire, they observed exploding canisters and burning white goods. The firefighters struggled to get within 50 metres of the fire, so they decided to let the fire burn out.
The crew returned at midnight, but the fire persisted until 7am when the fire eventually burnt out except for a few pockets of burning waste.
Natural Resources Wales (NRW) officers attended the site on 24th October. They identified a large pile of waste consisting of tyres, vehicle parts, pet carriers, sofas, toilets, cans, tiles, green waste, saucepans, carpet, MDF wardrobes, gas cylinders, bikes, white goods and black bag waste and nappies. At the time of their visit, the waste was still smouldering. Officers worked out the waste would have encompassed around 650m2 prior to the fire.
On a second visit to the site on 15th November, NRW officers identified burnt and partially burnt waste from the 22nd October fire but also new waste. This new waste consisted of black bin bags, building materials, blue bag recycling waste, bed mattress, wooden cupboards, a record player, vinyl records, car seats, plastic flowerpots, carpets, wire cabling, tyres and an array of plastics. In addition, there was a significant amount of unopened medication prescribed to Ms Prynne as well as other items addressed to her.
The fire on 22nd October was determined to have been deliberate and due to several previous fires on the site, by not securing the site Ms Prynne knowingly permitted the burning of the waste.
Ms Prynne was fined £1,800 and ordered to pay £1,500 costs and £170 victim surcharge.