TWO Cornish residents are facing thousands in court fees after being charged for dropping litter and dumping waste.

Stephen Smith of of Dabryn Way, St Stephen is facing a court bill of £2,349.70 for dropping litter. The incident occurred back in January on Fore Street in Bodmin.

The case was proved in his absence and as a result, he was fined £660 and ordered to pay a £264 surcharge and £1,425.70 in costs.

However, Mr Smith was not the only individual to face the law as a result of wrongly handling waste.

Darren Truscott of Trelavour Road, St Dennis has a court bill of £1,686.10 after the case was proven that he dumped five black bin bags of household waste in the closed road between Treviscoe and Goonvean between February 10 and February 12.

As a result of the incident, Mr Truscott was fined £250 and ordered to pay a £100 surcharge and £1,336 costs.

Councillor Thalia Marrington, Cabinet member responsible for Community Safety and Public Protection at Cornwall Council, said: “In both of these cases the individuals were offered the chance to settle the matter by paying a Fixed Penalty Notice. They refused to do this and will therefore have to pay considerably more.

“There is never any excuse for littering and when we can trace those responsible, we will take action.

“As well as public CCTV cameras, more and more people now have doorbell and home security cameras that capture this type of offence. I urge anyone with such footage to report it to us so we can investigate.”

If you have evidence on someone littering, report it to Cornwall Council’s Community Protection and Enforcement Team.