Episode 11 Filthy Rotten Scoundrels

'In the UK, there's a war being waged to keep our streets clean.'

A fly-tip of this size would cost thousands to clear it.

'From the two million pieces of litter dropped every day,

'to multi-million pound illegal landfill sites,

'we are all affected by what's dumped on our doorsteps.

'Coming up today, a shocking story of lethal chemicals

'that have been dumped and are leaking onto farmland.'

It's explosive and highly flammable.

They've got no regard for anyone's safety.

'In London, there's a game of cat and mouse going on.

'Officers are hunting for people illegally putting fly-posters up.'

Can you tell me where I can get hold of you?

You're not going to tell us?

'And in Burnley, one man gets the surprise of his life

'as he dumps a van load of waste and puts a match to the lot.'

The sheer hard-facedness of it all. It beggars belief, to be honest.

'This is the fight against Britain's filthy rotten scoundrels.'

'Fly-posting is a problem blighting our streets,

'and no more so than in the London borough of Hillingdon.'

I can see one, two, three...

four, five, six...

At least seven of these fly-posts

in this area alone.

Eight. Eight signs, all the same, on that one junction.

'Enforcement Officer John Davies and his team are determined to catch the rotters responsible.

'Every week, 170 of these posters are slapped up over the borough.'

It's an environmental issue, an eyesore, what people don't want to see.

'It's not just an eyesore and an offence, it's dangerous,

'something road safety organisations want to see the back of.'

The first, obvious problem, is the distraction that it creates.

You're reading the poster rather than looking at the traffic.

The second problem is you can hide a large vehicle behind a small poster.

They actually can obscure your vision.

Highway engineers build roads to give a good line of sight.

Sometimes, they build roads so you don't have a good line of sight,

to slow you down.

If you've created a set of lines of sight for drivers to use

and someone puts a poster across the middle, that effort's wasted.

The driver, motorcyclist, whoever it may be,

doesn't have the line of site intended.

The effect is either the traffic is going to be slowed down

or you've got a road safety danger because people can't see properly.

'With more than 23,000 traffic collisions reported

'to the Metropolitan Police in 2009, in the borough of Hillingdon,

'officers are determined to make their patch safer - and tidy.

'Some people are repeat offenders

'and today, the team is after a company that has been told not to put up illegal posters

'but has blatantly ignored the warning.'

They are a company who run parties at third-party venues.

They'll, basically, rent out space at bars, clubs, pubs.

This company has its own website,

appears to be very professional.

They run three or four every Friday, they run speed-dating sites,

all within a 20, 30 mile radius of where they operate from in Ascot.

'John and Alan hope to catch up with the person allegedly fly-posting

'and ask them to come in for a formal interview.'

That's what we're taking with us.

They're different locations where they've been put up.

I doubt very much if he'll even talk to us.

I've been proved wrong before. Let's see what happens.

'John's found out that one of the events advertised made around £700.

'With up to four events a week, that's a pretty healthy turnover.

'John and Alan's first stop is the company's registered office.'

I've just been in to try and speak to the director of the company.

These appear to be some sort of serviced office blocks.

I spoke to the receptionist. She put me on to the person I wanted to speak to on the phone.

I wouldn't exactly say she refused to come and speak to me.

She said she was busy. Could I leave the letter with the receptionist?

I said to her that it would be in her best interest to phone us on the number given,

just so we can discuss the relevant issues

surrounding the case.

'Could this be the beginning of a game of cat and mouse?

'An hour later, it looks like John gets a breakthrough.

'It's the call he's been waiting for.'

Hello, Brian.

I've just had a call from my office to say that you called regarding me delivering a letter.

You're the promotions manager?

You didn't know it was illegal to do what, fly-posting?

In October, November, you received a letter from us saying it was illegal

and not to carry it out again, and you carried on doing it.

The letter is requesting you

to come into the Civic Centre at Hillingdon next Friday

to be formally interviewed.

You're not prepared to do that.

Can you send me a letter to say you're not prepared to be interviewed?

'The following Friday came and went, with no surprises for John.'

They were true to their word. They didn't come for an interview.

We've taken advice from our legal department.

They suggest to issue a fixed penalty notice for each location.

We've got more than one at each location.

11 separate locations so they'll get 11 fixed penalty notices.

'Ouch! It sounds like it could be a lumpy fine. How does that break down into cold hard cash?'

If they pay within 28 days, it'll be £100 per fixed penalty notice.

£1,100.

If they pay within 14 days, that's £60 per fixed penalty notice.

£660.

Should they decide to do neither, then it will be court.

'The stakes of this case are getting higher by the day.

'With a potential £1,100 fine or even a court case,

'surely someone will want to deal with this issue, and fast.

'Find out later how the investigation unfolds

'when the game of cat and mouse takes another turn.'

They've upped and moved over the weekend.

'Could they get the result they need with an early morning stake-out?'

That's it.

'In the county of Essex lies Tendring,

'a district home to Clacton-on-Sea which boasts 36 miles of coastline

'as well as rolling countryside.

'For one young man, it's his new home.

'He's moved out of the big smoke and has brought well-earned skills.'

I was a police officer in the Metropolitan Police

as a detective constable on the robbery squad.

Yeah, I thought I'd come away from London for a little bit

and live in the country.

It's a lovely place to live.

'30-year-old Darren Weaver hasn't come to Tendring for a holiday.

'For six years, like these officers, he was bringing down criminals

'to make London a safer place.

'This talented investigator has been snapped up by Tendring Council

'to tackle a huge problem that's taking over the countryside -

'fly-tipping.'

It really grates that people have no respect for the countryside.

They feel they can just dump toxic waste, asbestos and dirty nappies.

Other council tax payers are paying for it to be cleared.

It's selfish and I suppose it's my job to find out who's done it

and put them through the courts.

'Tendring should be beautiful but it's being destroyed by rubbish.

'Darren gets nearly 40 reports of fly-tipping every week.'

If we want to find out who's dumped it

we've got to get our hands dirty.

Nothing surprises me now.

'Over a couple of years, fly-tipping has escalated beyond control.

'It's disgusting and expensive to clear.

'With all this open countryside, the fields are an easy target,

'something farmer Guy Smith, who lives on Darren's patch, knows only too well.'

The problem we have is that because this area is low grass,

it doesn't just attract wildlife, it attracts lowlife

who like to dump rubbish or trade waste.

Then it's my responsibility to sort it out.

'Guy also takes preventative measures

'to try to stop people dumping in the first place.'

We do make an effort to keep people off the fields by putting gates up.

I don't like to. I don't think it makes the countryside look pretty.

If you've got people intent on using your land as a rubbish tip

you have to take preventative action

to try and discourage people from doing so.

Here, we've got three or four bags of just household rubbish.

That'll block the ditch up.

I'll have to clear it out and get rid of it.

And it's a nuisance to any aquatic life you've got in the water.

It makes the countryside look a horrible mess.

'This dumped rubbish isn't just spoiling the picturesque view.'

I've had occasions where we've been combining and suddenly look down

and we notice there's a pram.

If it had gone through the combine it would have cost thousands.

Obviously, there's a hazard to livestock.

Plastics and barrels of God knows what.

I like to think they're not picking on me, but no!

Any farmer that's close to a suburban area up against a road will have this sort of problem.

'But with the arrival of Darren, hopefully, farmers like Guy

'will have fewer fly-tipping problems.'

People now know that there's a good chance they'll get caught.

We will trace them.

I will find out who's done it, if there's one bit of evidence.

'Darren is the only officer that covers this massive area.

'It's early morning and he's out on the road, as usual,

'making sure everything is in order on his patch of 130 square miles.'

You get used to it. That's why it's a shame seeing this stuff dumped.

It's such a lovely district.

People ruin it by dumping rubbish everywhere.

'Darren's at the beginning of his round and has got his first stop.'

As you can see, just by chance...

You never know what you're going to find when you're driving along.

'It's an all too common sight, but he needs to be careful.

'He never knows what dangers could be hidden.

'His priority is to find clues as to who dumped this.'

This is what we get on a daily basis.

The first thing I do is take a picture of it in situ.

If we trace who's done it, it's evidence for court.

There could be anything in them bags.

'While Darren can't predict what's lurking in the bags,

'he's got it sussed when it comes to profiling the offenders.'

This is someone who wants to empty their van out quickly.

Instead of going to the commercial dump, they dump it beside the road.

People don't care. People are money orientated, aren't they?

They ain't going to pay the fee down the dump.

It gets on my wick. It's ridiculous. It's laziness.

Half these people live local. They've got to live in this mess.

'To say Darren is fed up with it would be a huge understatement.

'It only gets worse, much worse.'

See, look...

That is spilled onto the land.

It's alcohol.

"Isopropanol.

"Highly flammable."

The stuff that's dumped in our countryside, eh?

'It's a mystery to Darren what this is used for.

'It looks like whoever dumped it bought it for a job.

'One thing's for sure, it's harmful to the environment.'

This is obviously farmland.

The farmer has now got chemicals all over his land.

'It's not just a danger to the farmer's land or animals.'

People walk their dogs along here.

A lot of people don't put their dogs on an extended lead.

They'll walk down here, sniffing this,

sticking their nose in here where there's sharp metal.

There's a razor blade.

'This makes our Environment Enforcer determined

'to fight to protect the countryside.'

If we want to get results, find out who's dumped it,

I've got to get my hands dirty, get stuck in

and find the evidence I need for the prosecutions.

Nine times out of ten I do find stuff.

People will get prosecuted for it, simple as that.

That's a chain and a half.

'Darren needs to find something,

'anything that will lead him to the person responsible,

'so justice can be done.

'And then, he strikes gold.'

What I've found here...

It might be nothing but it's a sign within all this building equipment.

Under a bit of tape, there's a telephone number.

I might be able to trace this.

'Just as he thought he wasn't going anywhere,

'he's got something to move his investigation forward with.'

I'll get someone to collect it.

I've got my evidence I need. Building Services.

It might lead to nothing but it's a start.

'Darren heads back to the office to see if this clue will lead him closer to the fly-tipper.

'It's not the only thing on his mind.'

That will cost, for a company coming to clear that one tub, around £350.

That's without the cost of the other waste.

You're looking at £500 to clear. It's ridiculous.

'Tendring Council's cleansing squad arrives.

'It's a familiar sight for Dave and Keith.

'Sadly, these guys are never short of work.'

Today, we've had a list of, what, 12 jobs to do?

-12 jobs.

-Nothing but fly-tipping.

All sorts.

Every day, like.

Well, what can you do?

This looks like oil to me. We get it all the time.

Drums of this and drums of that.

Cos we don't know what's in the container, we have to leave it.

A special crew will come out and pick it up.

There's not even a lid on that. Normally, there's a lid on it.

'This fly-tip is just one of 40 that Darren has to deal with on his own

'every week.

'He never lets his workload slow him down.

'Find out later just how determined he is.'

We will go to the Nth degree to find out.

They've got no regard for anyone's safety.

'Darren's determination looks like it might pay dividends.'

The manager's going to ring me back.

You've got three or four leads to follow from one bit of card.

I'm like a dog with a bone. PHONE RINGS

'Next, a brazen act of fly-tipping and arson

'that, without technology, could have created a major fire disaster.

'Across the UK, it's estimated there are 50,000 CCTV cameras

'owned and operated by local authorities.

'Increasingly, councils are using CCTV to catch people fly-tipping.

'In Liverpool, it's used in extreme cases.'

We've had plenty of hits.

It's a cracking tool to try and stop these people getting rid of rubbish.

'In Middlesbrough, CCTV cameras speak to people,

'telling them to pick their litter up.'

People know the cameras are there. We've had a 100% success rate.

'In the shadows of the mills of Burnley CCTV was the deciding factor

'that brought one rotter to justice after he'd brazenly dumped

'a van load of rubbish.

'These chimneys used to billow smoke

'where much of the world's cotton was produced.

'In May 2008,

'the smoke pouring into the sky was from a fire started by a scoundrel

'who dumped his toxic waste and then set fire to it.'

The sheer hard-facedness of it all.

Just to drive up here, respectable chap,

unload his waste from a respectable company,

set fire to it and leave it,

and not care about the environment that nice people of Burnley live in.

It just beggars belief, to be honest, the brass neck of it all.

'The scoundrel with the brass neck didn't stand a chance of getting away with this nonchalant act.

'An eagle-eyed CCTV operator was on his case.

'He caught the whole thing on camera.'

So, as he came up Wiseman Street,

he reversed into here, parked his van up, as you can clearly see,

opened the doors and was getting the stuffed out of the rear of the van.

Shoving it into a pile here.

There was plastic, cardboard, black bags.

When he'd got it all out of the van, he went and torched it.

'Unbelievable!

'The CCTV clearly shows him setting the waste alight.

'The fire is raging and the idiot is even admiring his own handiwork.

'After he'd emptied his van, he thinks he's got away with it,

'but our trusty CCTV operator has dialled 999.

'Before he manages to make his escape, he's got company.'

SIRENS BLARE

The police came

and the first thing they did was telephone the fire brigade.

As you can see, he's very close to a telegraph pole with wires attached.

It could well have affected those wires.

'As the fire brigade tackles the blaze,

'the scoundrel had to explain what he thought he was doing.

'Photos of the aftermath show how bad the fire damage was.

'It's now two years later

'and the damage caused is still evident.'

The fire damage is extreme. This is good Lancashire stone.

You see by the way it breaks away

that the heat caused this to flake off.

This is big stonework.

That's all caused by fire damage.

So you can see the intensity of the blaze.

This is good old-fashioned cotton town stone.

'With such good quality CCTV, it was an open-and-shut case.

'The man was fined £800 and ordered to pay £728 costs.

'It was a good result for Jonathan Jackson from Burnley Council.'

I was happy there was a conviction.

You'll have seen this around the country.

There are no standard guidelines for environmental offences.

Magistrates, therefore, go for a miscellaneous guideline,

which perhaps doesn't reflect

the distress and the anxiety that fly-tipping causes to people.

Nor does it reflect the cost to the council, and the council tax payer, to clear up.

'Law breakers might think they can get away with illegal dumping.

'With CCTV covering hot spots, it's becoming increasingly difficult.'

On this occasion,

the CCTV operator was alive to the situation and was able to zoom in on the scene.

That was our evidence that we took before the courts.

Fortunately, we don't get too many fly-tips that are set fire to.

The occasional one, but not many.

'This was one of those jobs where everything came together neatly.'

Like all my Christmases at once. A superb job. Very pleased.

'It's clear that catching a filthy rotten scoundrel bang to rights

'makes an enviro-enforcer very happy.

'So, if you're in Burnley and thinking of fly-tipping, I'd think again if I was you.

'Officers in Hillingdon are playing cat and mouse

'with the directors of a company

'for which fly posters have been put up all around the borough.

'The hunt is more difficult than they bargained for.'

This is something we never thought would happen.

They've moved over the weekend.

'But first...

'back in Tendring in rural Essex, enviro officer Darren Weaver

'is investigating a fly-tip on farmland.

'He's found builder's waste and toxic chemicals spilling out.

'His case will rest on vital clues from this outrageous mess.'

This is obviously farmland.

The farmer has now got chemicals all over his land.

'With 40 fly-tips reported to Darren every week, it's a common sight.

'And one that local residents like Linda McWilliams have had enough of.'

Being a dog owner and a horse owner, some of the items that are dumped,

you've probably got sharp items.

You can see, obviously, the large amounts of fly-tipping.

It is what is around that area that is the problem. You can't see those until you're on top of it.

There may be other liquids that you don't want to be involved with.

The situation could be too late and it could be very concerning.

I don't want anything to happen to my animals, to my horse.

Why should he go through a lot of misery?

Why should my dogs go through misery if they pick up something?

I'd love to catch them.

When you get mattresses, white goods, everything just dumped

in a beautiful location like this for whatever reason.

Why do it? Just don't do it!

'It's clear how angry the locals are towards these villains.

'Back at his office, it's crucial Darren's one lead,

'the phone number, points him in the direction of the fly-tipper.

'Before he calls the number,

'he wants to find out more about the chemicals.

'He doesn't think the manufacturer is responsible,

'but it's shocking news when he finds out how dangerous the chemicals are.'

It's an acetone, by the looks of it. Highly flammable.

"Long-term application to the skin can cause...defatting."

It strips your skin. Nice(!)

It's, basically, a very dangerous chemical.

Burns the skin. It's explosive.

It's highly flammable.

It's poured all over the field. It's got no lid on it.

The council had to pay a specialist contractor to clear that.

That costs about £350, £400 just for that one container.

I'm really interested in catching who's done this,

because they've got no regard for anyone's safety.

'The perpetrator made one big mistake,

'chucking out a sign with a phone number on it.

'Darren needs to find out where it came from. The net is closing in.'

I'm going to ring that number just to see if I can get a lead on it.

It's got through to O2 Building Services.

There's no option to leave a message.

'Ex policeman Darren's not giving up that easily.'

See if I can choose a different option to get through to anyone.

Hello. I wonder if you can help.

Is there anyone I can speak to about management? ..That's all right.

It's Darren Weaver. Do you know when they're going to call back?

Have they got a set time to respond?

Yeah, it's pretty serious. PUTS PHONE DOWN

Obviously, they're very concerned.

The Building Services Manager is going to ring me back.

'It seems Darren's tenacity has paid off.

'The sign has come from the O2 arena in Docklands, 70 miles away.

'Will the manager shed any light on who could have done this?'

I've e-mailed him the pictures.

I really hope he can tell me who it is.

A lot of the stuff that was dumped, I've never seen that stuff before.

There were ratchets and specific bolts.

They might be able to tell me a contractor that lives near there.

Before you know it, you've got three or four leads to follow

just from one little bit of card you found.

I'm like a dog with a bone. PHONE RINGS

Darren Weaver speaking...

'More like dog AND bone. It's the call Darren's been waiting for.

'Darren goes through everything he's found to narrow down who might be responsible.'

The interesting thing is that big massive chain, five metres long.

Escalators.

Someone doing escalators would use that chemical maybe, to clean it?

Would you e-mail me their contact details? Would that be OK?

I'm hoping they'll say, "We've got one that lives in Tendring."

Thank you, Ian.

Cheers, mate. Bye.

Right. That's interesting.

What isn't in the picture... I can't take a picture of everything.

I'd take photos all day.

But, within that dumped waste, there was a long chain.

He reckons it could be a lift or escalator company,

which makes sense.

'It sounds like he's making good headway. The plot thickens.'

He's going to e-mail me across all their contractors.

What I am going to do, I'm going to find out...

what exactly you would use that chemical for.

That's quite interesting.

'Darren's investigation is hotting up.'

It's used in printing presses.

Yet another line of enquiry.

This is someone that probably works in London and lives in Tendring,

or drives through Tendring.

It narrows down the people that could do it.

We're looking for someone that's worked at the O2 arena.

Either a lift engineer, or works in the printing press industry.

There's not a million people with that sort of job.

'Will our intrepid law enforcer track down the Tendring fly-tipper?

'Could Darren's case be about to hit the buffers?

'With only a handful of leads left to follow up,

'will they give Darren a result, or will it be the end of the road?'

If both these companies say "nothing to do with us"

there's nothing I can do cos I can't prove it.

'Find out later if determination is enough to find the fly-tipper.'

The longer I'm here, the more prosecutions we're getting.

'Back in Hillingdon, Enforcement Officers John and Alan are still playing cat and mouse,

'trying to track down the directors of a company

'for which illegal fly posters have been put up all over their borough.

'They were asked to come in to explain what's going on, but told John they weren't interested.'

You're not prepared to come in and be interviewed?

'The officers are trying to catch up with them and serve fixed penalty notices.

'The directors could be heading for fines of up to £1,100.

'A month after they first tried to catch up at their offices,

'they're hoping to hand over the necessary paperwork.'

Notices like this it's best to hand deliver. You know they've got them.

First Class post is classified as good service,

but they can always say, "I never got them."

So if you hand deliver, they can't say that.

A possible outcome is they can tell us to go and have a funny run,

refuse to see us at all.

They might come down. You can never tell. You have to play it by ear.

'The investigation is about to take another turn.

'They've just got some surprising news.'

It would appear that they've been at this service block for four to five years, at least.

And they moved out on Friday.

Which is a wee bit irritating. All we want to do is serve the notices.

'You never know what's going to happen until you get there!'

This is something we never thought would happen, that they've upped and moved over the weekend.

'The alleged culprits behind the illegal fly-posting are proving difficult to track down.

'John and Alan decide to check the residential address

'the director has listed at Companies House.

'Surprise, surprise(!) There's no-one at home.

'But John's still got the phone number of the promotions manager.'

My name is John Davies from Hillingdon. I spoke to you a month ago.

We've been to the business premises. You don't appear to be there.

I've got some notices I need to give. Can you tell me where I can come and deliver the notices?

You're not going to tell us where you are currently? OK, then.

He's refusing to tell me where the business has relocated.

He's told me to leave the notices at the premises we were just at,

which is clearly... Legally, they're not served.

They'll just say, "We haven't received them," or whatever.

We will have to do more research. They've been very unhelpful.

Not really surprised, but there you go.

'So, this game of hide and seek continues.

'These two officers are not letting sleeping dogs lie.

'Will an early morning stake-out give them the result they need?'

I don't want to get it wrong.

So we'll just make sure we don't miss anything,

as we've come to an important stage in the proceedings.

'Back in the Essex countryside, in the district of Tendring,

'Darren Weaver is hot on the heels of a fly-tipper

'that dumped builder's waste and toxic chemicals in a field.

'He found a sign with a telephone number and started investigating.

'His enquiries have led him to the O2 arena in London.

'He thinks it's not the arena itself but a contractor that's responsible.

'He's determined to find them.'

I'm like a dog with a bone. PHONE RINGS

'These investigations are tough to conclude.

'He's left with two potential leads to follow up.'

I've got an e-mail come through.

She's given me the two companies that do shutter doors at the arena.

One company based in Kent... and Isleworth.

What I'm going to do is tell them what I'm doing.

Tell them why I'm doing it.

And even send them the pictures, let them have a look for themselves,

and see where I go from there.

'It's the moment of truth.

'Will either of the contractors help Darren find the law-breakers

'who dumped the toxic chemicals on his patch?'

I work at Tendring, Clacton area.

I investigate fly-tipping and things like that,

environmental crime.

The fly-tipping was near Clacton.

I was wondering if any of your engineers live near or around Essex.

If I e-mailed you with some pictures of the stuff that was dumped,

would you or an engineer have a look at them?

You're experts and if it's not you, you may be able to help me.

Cheers, then. Bye.

'It's not looking good for Darren.'

They're from Kent. None of their engineers live in the area.

They haven't undertaken work this side of the river for a long time.

She did say I can e-mail her the pictures.

She'll see if anyone there recognises it.

If both companies say "nothing to do with us", there's nothing I can do.

I can't prove it. I've got no evidence that links them strongly.

I've got a sign that's moveable and a couple of lumps of metal.

'For the time being, Darren's got nowhere else to turn.

'Catching the culprit is never guaranteed.

'However, he's already seeing a massive improvement.'

I've worked for the council for six months.

The longer I'm here, the more prosecutions we're getting

because of the contacts I'm building up.

It was one in every ten fly-tips I'd solve.

Now it's one in every five. It's going to be one in two.

Or every fly-tip, unless they've been very, very careful.

'Fly-tippers, take note. The more you dump on Darren's patch

'the more likely he is to catch you red-handed.

'Back to the officers in Hillingdon.

'They're still playing cat and mouse with the directors of a company

'for which fly-posters have been put up all over their borough.'

It's an environmental issue, an eyesore.

It's not what people want to see.

'John and Alan are determined to catch the people responsible.

'With a potential £1,100 fine, the directors don't want any contact.

'They've decided to catch them when they leave home in the morning.

'They simply need to hand over the notices so they have proof they've been received.'

I don't want to get it wrong.

So...we'll just make sure that we don't miss anything,

as we've come to such an important stage in proceedings.

'It looks a bit more promising than before.

'There are cars around, but will anybody be in?'

I'd say that there's a 100% chance that she's in,

and a 100% chance that she doesn't want to answer the door.

If she rushes out and rushes off before we can get to her...

I will just post the notices, then. It's clear she's there.

Clearly, she doesn't want to speak to us.

And there'll be no circumstances

in which she'll not be able to say she's not received the notices.

'A short while later, there's some activity which doesn't help John and Alan.'

Have you still got the door? I can see the car.

'It appears that no-one's left the house.

'But then, John sees the front door open.

'Before John and Alan get a chance to get to the woman's house,

'this silver car has rushed in to pick her up and sped off.

'She's done a runner before they could hand her the £1,100 of fixed penalty notices.

'And the driver of the car that collected her

'narrowly misses hitting oncoming traffic.'

What just happened is that Gillian, who we've seen leaving,

her business partner has picked her up, a chap I know as Brian.

She's called him in because she doesn't want to leave in her own car.

He came in here quickly, picked her up, gone like a flash.

That's enough for good service of these notices.

'It's the end of a two-day game of cat and mouse but their job is done.

'And there's a twist of irony to this case.'

No junk mail, then they go round fly-posting.

You've got to laugh, really.

They don't want junk, but they don't mind sticking it all over council furniture.

'A month later, John had to re-serve the fixed penalty notices

'to the company secretary at the offices he previously visited.

'They were collected by the company who had 28 days to pay, but didn't.'

The state of play is

we need to complete the file of court process and get our legal department to summons them.

I don't know what the situation is at the moment.

Only time will tell as to the reasons why they haven't paid.

Perhaps they fancy their chances.

Hope they'll be acquitted. Who knows?

'John is waiting for this to be resolved, but there is good news.'

Functions are still going ahead.

But since we started proceedings, they've put no more up.

Just from that side of it, it's been a success!

We've stopped them from putting more signs up.

'This case did eventually reach a conclusion.

'The company came forward and paid the fines, which amounted to £660.

'John and his colleague's game of cat and mouse paid off.

'Job done!

'Join us next time, hot on the heels of more filthy rotten scoundrels.'

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd