A man from Brynmawr has admitted to multiple fly-tipping offences in Blaenau Gwent and has been sentenced to a Community Order.

Craig Lewis, from Gurnos Estate, pleaded guilty to all the offences at Cwmbran Magistrates Court following an investigation by Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council into offences in the area.

The 35-year-old was sentenced to a 12-month Community Order with 80 hours of unpaid work, reduced from 120 owing to his early guilty plea. In addition, Lewis will also have to pay almost £1,500 in prosecution costs and a victim surcharge of £114.

“Fly-tipping is not a victimless crime,” a spokesperson for Blaenau Gwent Council said.

“It blights neighbourhoods, puts pressure on public services and costs taxpayers thousands of pounds every year. We will continue to take robust enforcement action against those who continue to dump waste illegally.”

Evidence included Mr Lewis’ failure to cooperate with the investigation and being unable to provide the legally required waste transfer notes for the materials he had dumped across the county.

Two van loads of waste were dumped on separate occasions in 2024 on July 23rd, on Manmoel Road, Tredegar and July 26th and 27th in the same town on Tredegar Road. A vehicle registered to the offender was also shown to the court as the van being used to discard the waste, despite the fact Mr Lewis was banned from driving at the time.

In addition, he is currently barred from being a company director until December 2027 and his defence told Cwmbran Magistrates Court that he had been declared bankrupt and experiencing financial difficulties at the time of the offences.

The court heard of the deliberate nature of the offences and the impact they had on the local community, as well as contributing to the wider national issue of waste crime and placing additional strain on public resources.

Residents are reminded that anyone transporting waste as part of a business must be properly registered waste carrier and should provide evidence of this. Please check with Natural Resources Wales.