A woman has appeared in court accused of playing a role in the dumping of 61 tonnes of rubbish – including asbestos – near a nursery.

Melanie Gibson, 45, of Middlesbrough’s Cresswell Road, will face trial at Teesside Crown Court over allegations that she allowed a van of her waste to be dumped at the old Turford Social Club in Brambles Farm.

The flytipping accusations include the disposal of two tonnes of asbestos waste, Teesside Magistrates Court heard.

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Darren Mills, 44, of Shakespeare Avenue, is also set to stand trial for three charges in connection with the same fly-tipping incident. The former social club is next to Brambles Primary Academy and Minnow’s Children’s Day Nursery.

Catherine Cunningham, representing the council, said: “61 tonnes of rubbish have been fly-tipped at Turford Avenue over a long period going from April to December.”  

After council safety wardens uncovered the site, Middlesbrough’s mayor Andy Preston said it was “one of the worst we’ve ever seen” in terms of flytipping.

Gibson, who pleaded not guilty at an earlier hearing, is charged with depositing controlled waste without a permit between April 5, 2021 and May, 9, 2021.   

Mills is charged with depositing waste without a permit between April 1, 2021, and December 31, 2021, treating controlled waste in a manner likely to cause pollution and operating a regulated facility without a permit.

He will also face trial at Teesside Crown Court.  The court heard it would not be in the public interest to hold Gibson and Mills’ trials in separate courts when there is an overlap of witnesses and evidence.

The case has been adjourned to Teesside Crown Court on July 8 at 10am.

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