A FARMER was given a one-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £700 costs for a waste offence, by Bishop Auckland magistrates yesterday.

Alfred Swinbank, who manages West Middleton Farm, at Middleton St George, near Darlington, admitted a charge of depositing waste without a Waste Management Licence in a case brought by the Environment Agency.

The court heard that Swinbank had obtained planning permission in 1998 for the reclamation and improvement of an area of agricultural land. He had previously also registered an exemption from the Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994 for the same area of land, enabling him to spread waste soil, rock and waste from construction and demolition.

The court heard that Swinbank met Environment Agency officials in November 1998 to discuss increasing the size of the area of land.

He was told that the scope of the work required a Waste Management Licence.

However, four months later, officers from the planning authority and the Environment Agency visited the site again and found tipping had exceeded the area permitted and that holes had been dug to bury waste.

There also appeared to be sufficient material on site to complete its restoration.

Subsequent visits made by Environment Agency's officials revealed that vehicles were continuing to enter the site and were depositing waste. Aerial photographs revealed waste was being deposited outside the permitted areas.