A Norfolk garage owner who repeatedly ignored Environment Agency warnings about storing end of life vehicles (ELVs) and parts has been jailed.

Colin Barnes of Podmore Lane, Scarning, Norfolk, was handed a six-month jail sentence at Norwich Magistrates’ Court on 15 July 2022.

He was also ordered to pay £5,000 costs.

The 65 year old was also handed a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO), which sets out a series of legally-binding conditions he must adhere to or face further punishment.

In November 2021 he pleaded guilty to storing ELVs and parts without a permit at his premises.

Barnes was given a suspended sentence of 16 weeks for those offences, on the condition he remained offence free.

The court also made a Remediation Order that he must clear the waste from his site by mid-January 2022 or face immediate imprisonment.

Following expiry of the Remediation Order in January 2022, Environment Agency officers inspected the site and found it had not been cleared.

They found more ELVs and various car parts including gearboxes, suspension units and tyres stored at the site.

Environment Agency prosecutor Sarah Dunne said:

“Barnes had been given ‘chance after chance’ to clear the waste and to work with the Environment Agency.

“The site remained a risk to the environment and undermined competitors who operated within the law.”

Dunne then applied to the court for a CBO.

District Judge Wilson granted the order and set out the following prohibitions and requirements under the order for Barnes to obey.

Under the CBO, he must:

  • Not hold a waste carrier licence;
  • Surrender his waste carrier licence to the Environment Agency to the Environment Agency’s office at within seven working days of the date of this order;
  • Not apply for a further waste carrier licence;
  • Not register or cause to be registered, with the Environment Agency, any waste exemption;
  • Not be involved with the operation of any business, in his own name or otherwise, under any waste exemption that has been registered with the Environment Agency.

This order remains in force for a period of five years.

COURT