TWO UNLICENSED scrap metal and waste collectors operating in the city have been fined thousands of pounds for operating an illegal business.

Stopped by Wiltshire Police in January 2022, the court heard two men were using a waste carriers licence they were not entitled to use and had falsely claimed they were in the process of applying for a scrap metal collectors licence issued by Wiltshire Council.

The men used social media to market the illegal scrap and waste business and continued to operate illegally.

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Mr Stephen Dickel of Westwood Road, Salisbury, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing for failing to produce a waste carriers' licence and operating an unlicensed scrap metal collection business.

He was fined a total of £5,500, including costs, at a sentencing hearing heard at Salisbury Magistrates on 31 August 2023.

Mr Dickel had been prosecuted by Wiltshire Council previously for unlicensed scrap metal collection in October 2019. He also paid back £2,000 made in illegal income as a result of a ‘Proceeds of Crime’ case brought by Wiltshire Council officers. This was heard at Salisbury Crown Court on February 6 this year. 

Stephen Dickel's co-defendant, Warren Chant, also of Westwood Road, Salisbury, pleaded guilty to transporting waste without a waste carriers’ licence and to operating as an unlicensed scrap collector at an earlier hearing.

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Cabinet member for Highways and Waste for Wiltshire Council, Councillor Caroline Thomas, said: “Well done to our hard-working enforcement officers in securing these convictions. I would also like to thank our colleagues in Test Valley Borough Council, Portsmouth City Council, HMRC and Wiltshire Police who all assisted in the investigation of Dickel and Chant. These individuals are prolific illegal operators who take business away from lawful and licensed businesses in the county.

“Anyone who uses social media sites to find scrap metal or waste collectors should be very wary about who they allow to take their scrap metal and waste, as people can be fined if they give their waste to unlicensed collectors.

“Administrators of social media selling sites should also ensure anyone advertising for waste collection displays their full upper tier waste carriers licence number and scrap metal dealers licence number if they are advertising for scrap metal collection.”

Council officers will now pass the details of these prosecutions on to HMRC for further investigation due to no tax being paid on income made from the illegal activity.  

Cllr Thomas added: “As these convictions show, we take unlicensed waste and scrap metal collection very seriously, and we will work hard to prosecute offenders.”