A woman from High Wycombe has been forced to pay almost £900 after more than a dozen bags of rubbish were dumped in woodland near her home.

Cindy Williams, 37, of Highwood Avenue, was caught out after investigators examined the sacks of rubbish and found correspondence belonging to her.

Claiming that she paid ‘men in a van’ to remove it, Ms Williams later admitted in court to failing in her duty of care as a householder regarding the waste, which had been dumped illegally.

The large amount of rubbish was found in woods off Highwood Avenue in November last year.

Last week, Ms Williams was fined £200 by Wycombe magistrates and was ordered to pay clean-up and prosecution costs of £650 and a victim surcharge of £20 – a total cost of £870.

The investigation was carried out by the Waste Partnership for Buckinghamshire, who have campaigned to stamp out fly-tipping since 2003.

In the last 12 years they have had 499 convictions against individuals and companies for illegal dumping and related offences.

On average, there is one conviction per week for illegal dumping offences in Buckinghamshire, resulting in reported incidents being halved and a saving of more than £1 million for residents.

To make a report of fly-tipping visit www.buckscc.gov.uk/fly