A woman must pay £560 for dumping her sofa on a public footpath behind her house.

Charmaine Craven, 33, of Bronte Drive, Basildon, appeared at Basildon Magistrates Court after admitting she threw away a sofa on May 2 - an act which is in contravention of anti-flytipping laws.

Magistrates told Craven this type of offence is not acceptable and fly-tipping impacted society, highlighting the cost to councils - and unsightly views for residents.

She was ordered to pay an £80 fine, as well as a victim surcharge of £30 plus an additional £450 towards prosecution costs.

Leader of Basildon Council, Gavin Callaghan said the council was taking a zero tolerance approach to offences of flytipping.

He added: “We will not tolerate those flagrantly breaching the rules.

“We are on the side of people doing the right thing for their communities and we won’t tolerate it if anyone ignores the law.

“We removed more than 3,600 flytips last year with more than 80 per cent of that coming from household waste.

“It’s time we brought these levels down.

“Cases like this highlight the consequences, which can be very costly.”

Chairman of Basildon Council’s neighbourhoods and public spaces committee, councillor David Harrison, said this case indeed proves the council is doing what they need to in order to clean up the borough.

He said: “Last month we launched our ‘We’re Cleaning Up’ Campaign which has a strong emphasis on enforcement.

“This case highlights our commitment to ensuring those who fly-tip are held to account.

“This case shows that Fixed Penalty Notices cannot simply be ignored and we will prosecute wherever possible when evidence exists that an individual has failed to apply their duty of care.

“Everyone is responsible for ensuring all their waste is disposed of correctly and goes to a legal, licensed waste carrier.”

Visit www.basildon.gov.uk/cleaning-up for more information on the campaign and special collections.