A man has been fined almost a thousand pounds after he was found guilty for fly tipping a mattress.

Neil Smith, of The Croft, Loughton, pleaded guilty at Chelmsford Magistrates Court for deposing the object on a grass area adjacent to a bin store that services properties in Oakley Court, Loughton.

Evidence was gathered on Monday, January 4 2018, by Epping Forest District Council after they were made aware of the incident.

CCTV footage was soon found showing two people in a van depositing the mattress on Thursday, December 21 2017, at about 9pm.

Smith admitted to the fly-tipping and has been forced to pay a fine of to pay £952 in fines and costs.

Magistrates agreed Smith should pay a £320 fine, contribute towards the Council’s prosecution costs of £600 and pay a Victim Surcharge of £32.

A spokesman for Epping Forest District Council said: “This is a lesson for anybody tempted to fly-tip. It would have been far cheaper for Mr Smith to contact us and arrange for proper disposal of the mattress in the first place.

“We take fly-tipping very seriously in our District and will thoroughly investigate all instances either identified by our Environment and Neighbourhood Team or reported to them.

“We would urge residents to report fly-tipping online.”