Fifteen bags of rubbish were found dumped at West Wycombe beauty spot - and a man who lives just minutes away from the iconic site has been fined.

Marius Andrei, 41, of West Wycombe Road, High Wycombe, has been ordered to pay £2,307 after rubbish - including materials from a garage or repair shop - was dumped in woodland below West Wycombe Hill, overlooked by Dashwood Mausoleum.

Enforcement officers found evidence in the 15 sacks of rubbish that led to a taxi company - who said they had used the services of a garage in Lansdale Road, which was run by Mr Andrei.

Mr Andrei told officers he did not dump the rubbish himself - although he does live just minutes away from the iconic site.

He explained that he had transferred the rubbish along with a quantity of scrap metal to a man he knew only as ‘Michael’. The value of the scrap metal had been in lieu of payment, and there was no record of the transaction.

On February 5 at High Wycombe Magistrates' Court, Mr Andrei was fined £1,280 for the failure in his duty of care.

He was ordered to pay a contribution towards clean-up and investigation costs of £899, with a victim surcharge of £128 - making a total to pay of £2,307.

Wycombe District Council Cabinet Member for Environment Julia Adey, speaking on behalf of the Waste Partnership for Buckinghamshire, said: "The fact that this fly tipping took place within sight of the iconic Dashwood Mausoleum just acts to emphasise the unpleasant and antisocial nature of waste crime.

"That's why the duty of care to dispose of waste properly is enshrined in law - someone who transfers waste cannot hide behind the fact that the person who ended up dumping it was anonymous and untraceable.

"In Buckinghamshire we have a zero-tolerance approach to waste crime, and will prosecute if someone whose waste is dumped illegally hasn't taken the proper precautions to hire a licensed, traceable waste carrier."

Report fly-tipping in Buckinghamshire at www.fixmystreet.buckscc.gov.uk