A MAN who had been collecting old cooking oil from catering businesses in South Somerset has narrowly escaped prison.

Stuart Allen received a four month prison sentence suspended for 18 months and was ordered to pay £20,00 costs for running an illegal waste cooking oil storage and processing plant in the Dorset countryside. The case was brought up against him by the Environment Agency. Allen was also given a restraining order and sentenced to 200 hours unpaid work.

At a previous magistrates court hearing, Allen pleaded guilty to two offences of keeping controlled waste at Keepers Paddock, Middlemarsh, Sherborne, in a manner likely to cause pollution of harm human health and failing to comply with seven anti-pollution notices.

The stores of oil collected resulted in neighbouring properties and a stream being polluted. He also collected oil from Dorset and East Devon.

The Agency said it was first alerted in November 2014 after neighbours complained they found cooking oil in their drains and in a pond. Dye tracing showed the pollution was coming from a ditch bordering Keepers Paddock.

In January 2015 agency officers and police visited the site and found the illegal waste transfer station. It was estimated approximately 60,000 litres of mixed oils and food products were being stored at the site. Some of the materials were contaminated with plastics, wood and human waste.

According to the agency, no attempt had been made to contain or safely store the oils that were stockpiled. Spillages soaked into the bare earth.

Further checks revealed the site was also being used for the illegal production of bio diesel fuel, there were no environmental permits of exemptions in place to allow the defendant to carry out any of the activities witnessed by the agency officers.

The Environment Agency served Allen with a series of anti-pollution works notices in 2015, which required him to clear the site of waste oil by a certain deadline. None of the notices were complied with.

A spokesperson for the Environmental Agency said: "In addition to polluting soil and watercourses, illegal waste sites spoil the countryside by creating an eyesore and harm the local economy by undercutting legitimate waste businesses.

"The flammability and other potentially hazardous characteristics of waste oils also present a risk of fire and explosions.

"The defendant was operating illegally from this and a previous site for over 10 years and made no attempt to comply with anti-pollution notices or act on the advice and guidance he was given. We were left with no choice, but to prosecute."

The sentencing hearing took place at Taunton Crown Court on Friday, July 15.

Judge Ticehurst said: "You behaved recklessly rather than deliberately flouting the law and chose to continue running the business despite receiving regular advice and guidance from the Environment Agency.

"You should have stopped when you were told to, but you didn’t.

"I must warn you, if you come before this court again I will send you to prison."