A COMPANY director has been fined £10,000 for illegal burning of rubbish on the firm's land.

In February last year a large bonfire fuelled by waste materials including plastics, furniture and an accelerant was spotted on land on Cleveland Street in Birkenhead and council environmental health officers attended.

The land belonged to Birkenhead Commercial Limited and the blaze created significant amounts of dark smoke.

It later had to be extinguished by Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service.

After an investigation by the council's environmental health team a prosecution was brought before magistrates.

The court was told of the long history of dark smoke from fires at this site which have been attended numerous times by Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, placing unnecessary burdens on both services.

At Wirral Magistrates Court, a guilty plea was entered on behalf of John Hennessey, a director of Birkenhead Commercial Limited, to an offence under the Clean Air Act 1993.

The court issued a £10,000 fine and Wirral Council was also awarded £1,000 towards costs as well as a victim surcharge of £175.

A council spokesperson said: "This case shows we will act to deal with those who try to take shortcuts in disposing of waste and threaten our environment – and it shows the cost to those who are caught out.

"I would urge anyone with waste that they need to dispose of to do so properly and if they need advice to contact Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority."

Michael Buratti, arson team manager for Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service said: "Fire crews had to attend this site 13 times to extinguish fires that had been lit and involved a range of waste materials including tyres, wood and plastics which gave off large volumes of toxic smoke.

"Waste such as this should be disposed of responsibly and not set alight.

"Such incidents can have a significant impact on Merseyside Fire and Rescue Services’ resources when responding to other emergency calls.

"Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service will continue to work closely with partner agencies to investigate these types of incidents with the aim of preventing any future incidents occurring."