A fly-tipper was caught and forced to pay more than a £1,000 when a hidden camera filmed him dumping waste in woodland.

Lee Warren, from Meavy Close, High Wycombe, pleaded guilty after detectives arrested him when footage from a Buckinghamshire County Council camera showed him dumping a vehicle engine.

Although in a secluded part of Spring Lane, Flackwell Heath, he was caught red-handed by the hidden lens and has now been forced to pay £1,300 in fines.

A BCC statement said that when Warren was interviewed at High Wycombe Police Station, he admitted dumping the engine block, saying that he needed an empty van for work and that he couldn't find anywhere to dispose of the engine legitimately.

The 28-year-old was pictured dumping the material on May 9 last year and admitted the offence when questioned by Thames Valley Police.

Appearing at High Wycombe Magistrates’ Court last week, he pleaded guilty and was fined £800 and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £500.

BCC cabinet member for environment and planning, Councillor Lesley Clarke, said: “The Waste Partnership achieves an average of one fly-tipping conviction a week, one third as a result of eye-witness evidence from observant residents.

“Around 15 per cent of our cases come from camera work. Hidden cameras target locations where we think fly-tippers will try to avoid being caught by more conventional investigation.

“Cameras, essential in targeting this kind of dumping, have been used consistently since 2003.

“In that time, a ‘caught on camera’ case in September 2011 resulted in the highest penalty of all the cases prosecuted - more than £11,000 in fines and costs. 

“This involved a fly-tipper who dumped hazardous waste at Old Dashwood Hill, near Studley Green.”

Cllr Clarke, who is also the chairman of Wycombe District Council, added: “Buckinghamshire County Council is at the forefront nationally in prosecuting fly-tippers.”

Working with BCC, the Waste Partnership launched the ‘Illegal Dumping Costs’ campaign in October 2003 to combat unlawful dumping and waste management offences in the county.

Since then, the partnership has secured 456 convictions against individuals and companies for illegal dumping and related offences.

To report fly-tipping, visit www.buckscc.gov.uk/fly