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Three Wigan residents have been punished by the courts for blighting neighbourhoods with fly-tipped waste.

Desmond Alker, 51, of Beacon Road, Bickershaw, appeared before borough justices to deny three counts of illegally depositing waste at Beacon Country Park.

The first charge was of dumping bags of household rubbish there in July 2020, the second concerned leave a mental drum at the park in January last year, and the third accused him of leaving more household waste, including a black bin bag, clothing, a wooden cupboard door, DVDs and a broken vacuum cleaner on November 15 in 2022.

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Fly-tipped waste similar to that deposited by some of the convicted Wigan residents

All the waste disposals were carried out without the proper permit and thus he was in breach of the 1990 Environmental Protection Act.

Despite Alker's protestations of innocence, Wigan magistrates found him guilty of all three offences and he was hit with fines and victim services surcharge totalling £660.

Sacks of household waste, builder's rubble, a travel cot and mattress were among the rubbish 39-year-old Kelly Bakra dumped at the rear of Walthew Lane in Platt Bridge where she lived, as well as nearby Sydney Street.

Borough justices heard that the detritus was left on February 4 and March 12 2020 and was in contravention of the 1990 Environmental Protection Act as she did not have a waste disposal licence.

Fines, court costs and a victim services surcharge mean Bakra has £884.83 to pay.

And 31-year-old Dean Barrington, of Chestnut Road, Whelley, appeared in court to plead guilty to dumping an old couch and cushions on Standish Wood Lane, Beech Hill, on or before June 24 2020, again when he didn't have a waste disposal permit.

He too was fined and ordered to pay a victim services surcharge and courts, the total coming to £858.64.

Meanwhile Jayne Guest, 51, of Medlock Way, Platt Bridge, appeared before borough justices to face a single charge under the 1990 Environmental Protection Act that she dumped four bin bags of general household waste on a footpath on Algernon Street, Hindley, on February 3 2020 when she was not covered by a waste management licence.

Guest has yet to plead and the case was adjourned until November 16.

Three Wiganers convicted of fly-tipping while a fourth faces littering charge