A SOHAM man caught carrying scrap metal illegally was fined £750 and ordered to pay £2,000 costs at Bury St Edmunds Magistrates’ Court this week.

Frank Allgood, of Heron Croft, in Soham, was stopped by Suffolk police in October last year and claimed that the waste he was carrying had come from a skip and he was taking it to his allotment shed.

Emma Cranfield, prosecuting for the Environment Agency, said that subsequent checks with local scrap yards showed that Allgood had, the day after he was stopped, weighed in a number of items similar to those found in his vehicle by police during the search.

Allgood admitted that he had taken all but two of the items to the scrap yard to sell for a profit which he split with his two sons.

The court heard that he had delivered £972.97 worth in scrap metal to scrap yards between July 30, 2012, and November 26, 2012, continuing after he had been stopped by the police.

Miss Cranfield told the court: “Individuals and businesses who carry controlled waste must register with the Environment Agency. The registration lasts three years. The cost of registration for a waste carrier for 2012 was £154.”

Allgood pleaded guilty to a charge of transporting controlled wasted, namely scrap metal, with a view to making a profit despite not being a registered carrier contrary to Section 1(1) of the Control of Pollution (Amendment) Act 1989.