Llanidloes company fined £69,000 in court

A Llanidloes company and its director have been fined a total of £69,000 for illegally storing and disposing of waste tyres at several sites across Powys.

Benji and Co Limited and its director, Peter Rees, appeared before Welshpool Magistrates Court on Tuesday 14 October, where they were sentenced following guilty pleas at earlier hearings.

The case centred on the unlawful operation of a waste site at Gwern Tyddyn, Llanidloes, between January and June 2022, where the company stored and treated tyres without the required environmental permit. Further offences took place between March and December 2022 when baled tyres were deposited on land at Newhouse Farm in Aberhafesp, Rhossllyn in Nantmel, and Llys Fynydd, also in Llanidloes.

Benji and Co Limited was fined £40,000, £10,000 for each of four offences, and ordered to pay £15,000 in prosecution costs. Director Peter Rees was fined £10,000 for consenting to, being complicit in, or neglecting his duties in connection with the unlawful activities. Both the company and Mr Rees were also ordered to pay £2,000 each as victim surcharges.

Officers from Natural Resources Wales found large quantities of end of life tyres including baled, shredded, and loose tyres stored in unsafe conditions and far beyond the legal limits allowed under waste exemptions.

Despite repeated visits and advice from NRW dating back to 2018, the company failed to bring the Llanidloes site into compliance. Officers found more than 200 tyre bales, over 1,000 loose tyres, and around 40 tonnes of shredded tyre waste.

NRW said the site posed a significant fire risk and breached the conditions of both T8 and U2 waste exemptions, which are designed to allow only limited, low risk waste activities under strict controls.

Jeremy Goodard, team leader for NRW’s waste and enforcement team in Mid Wales, said: “This case highlights the importance of following environmental rules. Permits and exemptions exist to protect people, nature and the wider environment. Ignoring them puts communities and the environment at risk and undermines the integrity of the waste management system. We will always take action where we find serious non compliance.”

NRW said the company had gained financially by avoiding the costs of proper waste management, including permit fees and compliance with safety standards.

The case, it said, also highlighted the responsibility of company directors to ensure compliance with environmental law and the consequences of failing to do so.