A Burnham man has been ordered to pay more than £2,300 after dumping carpet and underlay waste on a country road - because he did not want to upset his wife by taking it back home.

Marcin Zbigniew Seweryn, 40, of Eastfield Road, was caught on CCTV dumping the rubbish at Allerds Road from a van and was called to Slough Police Station after officers from the Waste Partnership for Buckinghamshire traced the vehicle registration to a company in Burnham.

Although he initially denied any involvement, Mr Seweryn admitted dumping the waste once he saw the evidence of the surveillance images.

He explained that the carpet had been ruined when a fish tank had been accidentally broken at his home.

He had taken the waste to the nearby household recycling centre, but was told he needed to get a free digital permit as he was using a commercial van.

He said he was reluctant to take the carpet home for fear of upsetting his wife so, in order to avoid the necessity of getting the free digital permit, he dumped the waste at the roadside with the claimed intention of returning with his car, picking up the waste, and taking it back to the household recycling centre. But he had then found himself too busy to do so.

As the magistrates fined him £1,507 for dumping the waste, and ordered him to pay £705.30 in clean-up, investigation and legal costs, and also ordered a victim surcharge of £150 to be paid, the Waste Partnership for Buckinghamshire passed the £1 million mark in the amounts fly-tippers have had to pay out through prosecution for illegal dumping since 2004.

He had to pay a total of £2,362.30.

Mike Smith, cabinet member for environment at Chiltern District Council, and chairman of the Waste Partnership for Buckinghamshire, said: “This million-pound milestone marks the ongoing commitment of all of the Waste Partnership for Buckinghamshire’s member authorities to fight waste crime together through a zero-tolerance approach.

“We will prosecute waste crime whenever possible, whether it's the fly tippers themselves or those that fail in their duty of care to ensure that their waste is disposed of responsibly.

“This case is the 707th successful prosecution since the zero-tolerance policy was brought in in 2003.”

Bill Chapple, cabinet member for planning and environment at Buckinghamshire County Council, said: “I'd like to congratulate our waste enforcement team who investigate fly tipping cases on behalf of the Waste Partnership.

“Through their dedication and diligence, we have a fly tipping prosecution rate that is 16 times better than the national average, sending a very clear warning not to dump rubbish illegally in Buckinghamshire.”