Daniel Worboys of ‘Rubbish Clearance Portsmouth’, Jason Newman of ‘What A Load Of Rubbish’ and Sidney Simpson of ‘S&S Clearances’ pleaded guilty at Portsmouth Magistrates Court for dumping waste illegally – including waste collected from a church in Portsmouth.

A fourth defendant, Ben Bennett (real name Lezlie Hollis) pleaded not guilty and his case has been adjourned until 10 September 2019.

In September 2018, a major flytipping site was discovered by the Environment Agency on Hulbert Road, Havant. It found orchestrated dumping of household and commercial waste by trespassers, including waste forming around 40 different tips from many small vehicles. The waste site caused problems for the environment with some of the waste catching fire, causing toxic smoke, and some entering the local stream. It cost around £100,000 to clear the site.

Following an extensive investigation, the Environment Agency identified the 3 men, who pleaded guilty to dumping the waste at the Hulbert Road site.

Daniel Worboys, who was sentenced to 12 weeks’ imprisonment suspended for 12 months and ordered to pay £1,500 compensation, admitted he had collected waste from a number of customers that he deposited at the site near Havant. He also did not use correct paperwork.

Jason Newman was sentenced to 12 weeks’ imprisonment suspended for 12 months and ordered to pay £1,000 in compensation. The Environment Agency found paperwork belonging to Jason Newman at the site. It also found that he had dumped waste he had collected from a housing association and a landlord as part of a house clearance. He also did not use correct paperwork.

Sidney Simpson, who was sentenced to 12 weeks’ imprisonment suspended for 12 months and ordered to pay £1,000 compensation, was employed to clear household and business waste from a church in Portsmouth by the pastor who had employed him before. He also did not use correct paperwork.

A spokesman for the Environment Agency, said:

Their actions showed blatant disregard for the environment. These waste criminals also undermine legitimate businesses.

In cases like this, we have no hesitation in prosecuting those involved as we want to make sure that waste crime doesn’t pay.

We all have a part to play in stopping waste crime. We encourage the public to ask to see their waste collector’s ‘Waste Carriers Registration’ and demand a ‘Waste Transfer Note’, which states where they are taking the waste to be disposed.

Notes to editors

Mr Newman was prosecuted for:

• Section 33 illegal deposit of waste on or before 27 September 2018
• failure to respond to Notice which expired on 12 December 2018
• failure to keep transfer notes as required

Mr Simpson was prosecuted for:

• Section 33 illegal deposit of waste on or before 27 September 2018
• failure to respond to Notice which expired on 6 December 2018
• failure to keep transfer notes as required

Mr Worboys was prosecuted for:

• Section 33 illegal deposit of waste on or before 27 September 2018
• failure to respond to Notice which expired on 24 January 2019
• failure to keep transfer notes as required

An international law enforcement investigation has resulted in one of the largest ever seizures of heroin in the UK.

National Crime Agency (NCA) intelligence had identified a container vessel suspected of carrying a large drugs shipment en route to Antwerp, Belgium.

398 kilograms of heroin removed

The vessel docked in Felixstowe on 1 August. The following day, officers from Border Force and the NCA removed a container in which approximately 398 kilograms of heroin was concealed within a cover load of towels and bathrobes.

The heroin was removed and the container returned to the vessel, which carried on to the port of Antwerp.

On arrival, the container was collected by lorry and taken to Rotterdam – all the time under police surveillance. On 5 August, as suspects took steps to unload the contents, Dutch Police moved in and made two arrests.

The NCA simultaneously arrested a man from Bromsgrove who is currently being questioned by NCA officers.

The drugs would be worth at least £9m to organised criminals selling the whole consignment at wholesale, and at least £40m at street level in the UK and other European countries.

International partnership against crime

NCA Regional Operations Manager, Colin Williams, said:

The seizure of such a large quantity of heroin is the result of a targeted, intelligence-led investigation, carried out by the NCA with international and UK partners.

It is almost certain that some of these drugs would have been sold in the UK, fueling violence and exploitation including what we see in county lines offending nationwide.

The heroin trade also feeds addictions that put users’ lives at risk, while giving rise to crime such as theft which make people feel unsafe in their communities.

The NCA works in the UK and with partners around the world to target the crime groups posing the greatest threat to the UK.

Mark Kennedy, Border Force Deputy Director, said:

Border Force officers operate on the front line, working every day to keep dangerous Class A drugs like this off the UK’s streets.

Substantial seizures like this help to keep communities safe and hit the organised crime groups involved in the international drugs trade hard.

The UK jobs market remains resilient, as statistics out today (13 August 2019) show the number of people in work is at a record high of 32.8 million, a rise of over 3.7 million since 2010.

New figures from the Office for National Statistics also show the UK workforce is more gender diverse than ever before, with the number of women climbing to a new record high and ethnic minority employment rate at a near record high, now making up 51% and 32% of employment growth respectively since 2010.

Sectors such as manufacturing and construction are experiencing the big increase in number of jobs, with 85,000 more people employed in the last year.

Wages are also on the up this month outstripping inflation for a 17th month, boosting consumer confidence and spending power for millions – with real term total wage growth hitting 1.8%.

Meanwhile UK unemployment rate remains steady at 3.9% – as the number of unemployed people continues fall in every region of the UK since 2010.

Today’s statistics also show the number of disabled people in work increasing by 1.15 million in the last 6 years – and an increase of 246,000 disabled people in employment in the last year.

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Minister for Women and Equalities, Amber Rudd said:

More people in work than ever before means more households across the UK are earning a regular income, and millions more receiving a pay boost thanks to wages rising at their fastest in a decade – outstripping inflation for a 17th month in a row.

Our workforce increasingly reflects our vibrant society, with a record number of women in employment while the number out of work falls to an all-time low.

This week many young people will receive their A level results and begin their career journey. They should know that they are entering a workforce that is flourishing and full of opportunity and I hope all young people, especially women, feel empowered to flourish in every role in every sector.

The government is helping even more people benefit from a well-paid job by:

• backing businesses to create good jobs with the modern Industrial Strategy – including strengthening workers’ rights, and tightening the rules for big businesses
• investing in infrastructure, training and apprenticeships we need for our future, with public investment at its highest in 40 years
• introducing Universal Credit – better supporting people move into work faster and stay in it longer
• supporting employers to recruit, re-train and retain older workers to stay in work longer with our Fuller Working Lives strategy
• tackling employment inequalities with targeted support in 20 UK regions and £90 million to help support young people

Media enquiries for this press release – 020 3267 5144

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A 48-year-old man from Long Eaton, Derbyshire, has been ordered to pay a total of £406 after pleading guilty to fishing without a licence. The offence was discovered after a tip-off from a member of the public, and Environment Agency officers responded in the early hours of the morning.

Guilty plea

On 8 August 2019, at Derby Magistrates’ Court, Zong He was ordered to pay a fine of £276, £100 towards prosecution costs and a £30 victim surcharge. In passing the sentence, the Magistrates gave credit for his guilty plea and accepted that he was not receiving any financial gain from fishing for the crayfish.

In mitigation, the defendant stated that he had been in the country for 22 years and never been in any trouble like this before. He also stated he did not catch anything, but if he did he would have eaten it.

Reports had previously been received of 3 men fishing for crayfish in the St Mary’s Bridge area of Derby, with plastic trays on string and using chicken carcasses as bait.

Environment Agency acted on intelligence

In September 2018, Environment Agency officers were following up these reports near St Mary’s Bridge on the River Derwent, and approached Mr He at 1am. They carried out a search of his vehicle. Mr He denied fishing for crayfish, but officers found plastic trays and a ball of green twine that matched trays and green twine attached to chicken carcasses on the nearby River Derwent that had been used to catch approximately 20 to 30 crayfish.

During a later interview under caution, Mr He accepted that he had put trays into the water, but had hoped to catch lobster. He claimed there was no intention of selling what he had caught and denied that they would be used in the takeaway shop where he works.

Speaking after the case, Pete Haslock, Enforcement Team Leader for the Environment Agency in the East Midlands, said:

The case shows how seriously the Environment Agency takes these offences and reminds everyone of the importance of having a licence. We hope it will provide a deterrent to anyone who is thinking of fishing without a licence.

All of the money raised from fishing licence sales is used to protect and improve fish stocks and fisheries, benefitting anglers. For those caught cheating the system, we will always prosecute.

Further arrests have been made by the Environment Agency and the police in connection with the illegal trapping of crayfish in the Derby area.

Buy a fishing licence

Any angler aged 13 or over, fishing on a river, canal or still water needs a licence. A 1-day licence costs from just £6 and an annual licence costs from just £30 (concessions available). Junior licences are free for 13- to 16-year-olds. Licences are available from GOV.UK or by calling the Environment Agency on 0344 800 5386 between 8am and 6pm, Monday to Friday. Alternatively you can purchase a licence from your local Post Office branch.

The consortium will design, supply and install the mechanical and electrical instrumentation necessary for the new plant at Culham Science Centre.

The purpose of the new Hydrogen-3 Advanced Technology (H3AT) facility will be to support the development of new technologies to process and store tritium, one of the fuels that could be employed in future fusion power plants.

The facility, which will be commissioned in 2021, will have the capacity to hold tritium and, uniquely, will provide a ‘closed-loop’ research system. Although the stand-alone technologies for each component are used elsewhere, the H3AT facility will be the first to bring these together in one place, and will represent a small-scale forerunner of the tritium facility for the multinational ITER fusion project in France.

This ‘closed-loop’ system allows for the recycling and reuse of tritium as well as the ability to use it for further experiments – a valuable resource, therefore, for tritium R&D.

Contracts for a suite of sub-systems for the facility will also be awarded by tender to industry in the coming months.

Colin Walters, Director of the National Fusion Technology Platform at UKAEA, said: “The H3AT facility will provide a truly world-class capability, and will enable the development of technology, expertise and skills to support UK industry growth.”

Thomas Keegan, Group Chief Executive Officer at DBD, said: “H3AT is a dream project for Different by Design; it allows us to use our skills on an internationally important facility. We were thrilled to be appointed as a delivery partner to UKAEA and are looking forward to the collaboration.”