Episode 6 Filthy Rotten Scoundrels

Every day, a war is being waged across Britain to clean up our towns and countryside.

I really hope these people are brought to court and go to prison over this.

I could cry when I see this because it's such a mess.

From the tons of cigarette butts, dogs' mess and household rubbish

to mountains of tyres and skiploads of builders' waste...

Glass bottles there,

cans...

The vast majority of this stuff dumped here could have been recycled.

They've no respect for anybody. It's disgusting.

We're on the front line of the clear-up and the fightback

with a dedicated team tracking down the rogues and putting the "great" back into Britain.

You may harm your defence if you fail to mention something which you later rely on in court.

On today's programme, the eye in the sky

that captured this incredible footage and left the brazen fly-tipper with nowhere to hide.

He just lay back in his chair and he said, "You've got me bang to rights. What can I say?"

And tracking down the households where dodgy plumbing means

toilets are being flushed straight into our rivers and streams.

You might find toilet waste and toilet paper.

That's because the occasional builder may plumb in a toilet downstairs

and put that into the wrong sewer system.

Welcome to the dirty world of Filthy Rotten Scoundrels.

First today, the malodorous matter of dog do. Yes, that pongy pet hate that haunts all of us.

There's nothing worse than going out for a spot of fresh air, then feeling the dreaded squelch

as your polished size 9s slip into a putrid pile.

They should just have more respect for other people and for kids.

No-one wants to kind of like walk around a park that's covered in dog do.

It's not doing us justice. We've got kids playing around in the alleys.

They're coming back with bits on their feet and people are not bothering picking it up.

And you know, it's like a hygiene problem.

It stinks, actually.

If I had a £5 note for every time I stood in dog excrement,

either getting out of the car or walking about in the street, I'd pay to go on holiday tomorrow.

In Doncaster, the awful trail of dodgy dog mess has led us

to the door of local enforcement warden Rob.

Part of Rob's job is to patrol the green spaces of Doncaster which are packed with dog walkers.

Unfortunately, some of these areas are heavily littered with dog muck.

We also make sure that when we're out there,

we check the areas for dog muck

and if there's a considerable amount,

then we would get our cleanse teams to come out and remove it.

Cleanse teams? That all sounds a bit la-di-da for dealing with what we all know is basically dog poo.

Dog fouling is a real problem for this area.

It's not a massive problem throughout Doncaster, but in this particular area here,

we find there's a lot of dog muck.

Oh, God, look at the state of that!

I'm trying not to, to be honest, Rob.

Anyone got a peg for my nose?

That's disgraceful. I mean, you've got...

20-odd dumps of dog muck here.

Obviously, somebody's coming here on a regular basis

and using this particular area here to dump their dog muck.

So it's disgraceful.

You wouldn't let your children or yourself litter the street, so why let your dog do it?

-I think dog poo's worse than litter.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

You can just pick up litter and put it in the bin, but dog poo, it's like...

And it's not your own dog, is it?

You see, we've got these dog poo bins in.

There's no reason why this dog fouling should happen on here whatsoever

because we've got a litter bin and a dog waste bin.

And what we've had to do is we've had to put signs on the pavement

to tell people to clear up.

It's ironic that we put these sort of things in for people to use,

as in bins, dog waste bins, and they don't use them.

Rob has the authority to issue a fine of £50

to anyone who fails to clean up after their dog does its business,

and if they fail to pay, they could land up in the magistrates court and face a much heftier penalty.

This area also gets quite heavily littered because we've got a lot of street drinkers,

people drinking beer and leaving cans and bottles hanging about.

You can see there's some dog muck on the floor here.

What happens is we would put in what we call an EPA in for this area,

which basically stands for Environmental Protection Act. We would go round and get this cleared.

The bins will be emptied, so I'll do that now and put that through to our team.

Good idea, Rob. The sooner this place gets cleaned up, the sooner I can take this peg off my nose.

Can you put me an EPA in, please?

For Spencer Avenue, Wheatley.

It'll be the full, the full, um...area.

People who don't pick up after their dogs are actually spoiling their own communities.

And they're basically selfish

because if they don't pick up after their dog, somebody else will have to clear it up, i.e, the council.

People are going to step in it.

Children can get it on their hands and they can digest it and get all sorts of problems there.

It's really scary stuff.

If the fouling dogs haven't been wormed, the biggest worry is toxocariasis

where parasites from a dog's mess are ingested by humans.

The eggs hatch and attack our organs.

It can actually cause blindness and around 12 children a year are affected in the UK.

-'Ey up, Derek, are you all right?

-Aye, not so bad, mate.

-We weren't sure if we were going to this park or Baxter Park.

-This one.

Excellent. Rob's cavalry has arrived and wait till you hear this.

There's a lot more dog muck around the play equipment.

Dog's muck around a kids' playground? As well as disgusting, it's downright dangerous!

We've got a children's play area here which has also, every now and again, got dog muck on it.

It's disgraceful because this is the sort of area that people can't use or children won't want to use it,

so it becomes very difficult for people to use it as a recreational area which it was built for

when people leave dog mess all across it.

We've cleaned it up and it's back to how it should be.

It makes me feel sick. They shouldn't let dogs do it in the first place.

They should clean their own mess up.

It's part of the job. You do get used to it after a while, but it is really annoying and very costly.

These lads could be... Instead of having to do this on a regular basis through irresponsible dog owners,

they should be off in other areas, tidying other areas up.

Two bags full. Two of them, nearly full.

Last time I did it.

-Of all sorts.

-A lot of it were runny.

-More than runny.

-Yeah.

-Thanks very much for that, fellas. I appreciate that.

-We'll get off then. There you are, Derek.

-Cheers, boys.

-There we go.

The vast majority of people in this area are good people

who want to see this area used for its purpose, which is recreation.

They don't want to see dog muck all over the place.

They don't want to stand in it and it's up to us to ensure that people can use this as a recreation area.

That's why we brought the lads down here today to remove it.

It's also about educating people in the area about what is right and wrong.

We're back on puppy patrol later when we'll meet Doncaster's best behaved dog owner.

I would clean up after my dog. And there are plenty bins now out there that you can use.

If everybody did it, the parks would be kept cleaner and tidier for everybody to use.

Down an old, crooked lane in the heart of the Black Country, there was an old, crooked house...

..with a very crooked problem.

-You feel drunk before you walk in the door.

-I'm not surprised.

It wasn't the slant in the floor that was causing Wayne Penn, the landlord of the pub, a headache.

-You're in the hands of these selfish people.

-That sort of thing is disgusting, quite frankly.

Wayne took over the pub three years ago and he thought, "What better place to pull the perfect pint -

"an unusual, historic pub in a beautiful, idyllic spot!"

I'm quite proud to be the landlord of The Crooked House,

a pub that's been here for 200, 300 years, a lovely, unique building in the middle of lovely countryside,

serving travellers and guests from around the country and the world.

But the travellers from around the world started to notice a problem on the way to enjoy a pint.

The lane was littered with rubbish.

David Patterson from South Staffordshire Council takes up the story.

In 2009, we started receiving quite a few complaints about fly-tipping along Coppice Mill Lane.

As you see here, a large amount of domestic and commercial waste has just been dumped along the road.

Because it's a remote lane, people were driving up here, throwing their waste down and driving off,

which was having a really bad impact both on the environment and the business of the pub.

The country lane was being turned into the local dump.

It's enough to put you off your pint and the rubbish meant punters were staying away.

We've been coming to The Crooked House for about nigh-on 50 years

and then to see all the rubbish and washing machines and chemicals and things dumped,

-it's just heart-breaking for us, isn't it?

-Mm-hm.

-We met here, didn't we?

-Yes.

Ah, how sweet! Yet some filthy, rotten fly-tippers were ruining their romantic rendezvous.

Within just six months, four huge loads of waste had been dumped on the lane.

Some days, there'd be piles that would fill probably all of that area right back up to the fence,

probably about four feet high, including household waste, DIY rubble.

And as we get guests coming in from all over the world,

the first thing they get to see is a huge amount of fly-tipping.

It wasn't just an eyesore for tourists. The mountains of rubbish meant getting to work

was turning into an obstacle course of junk for Wayne.

You'd come to the point where it was a dread to come down the lane and see what was going to be facing us,

to the point where I've come down the lane on one occasion and not been able to physically get down the lane.

Unbelievable! The fly-tippers had dumped so much rubbish that it even caused a local stream to flood.

Wayne was working all hours to try and keep his business going,

but thanks to selfish fly-tippers, he couldn't even open up.

It's just gut-wrenching sometimes to think you work all day every day,

then on a Sunday where it's almost your bread and butter, you are closed,

losing thousands of pounds that still needs to be paid out.

The lane was totally blocked. The pub had to close its crooked door and the clear-up began.

It took two days to clear and filled four truckloads. The £4,000 tab was picked up by the taxpayer.

It wasn't just the public that felt it in the pocket.

It's not just the expense of what we've lost. On a Sunday, there's the expense of what you've already got.

You've started cooking stuff, you've bought all your produce. You've got to tell customers you'll not be open.

And it's all out of your hands.

It is gut-wrenching at times, it's disappointing

and it's demoralising.

Wayne couldn't go on like this. His business faced disaster, but he was not about to call time on his pub,

so he called his local MP instead.

We got in touch with the council and we all met here at The Crooked House

to discuss what we would do to stop these issues, to try and catch the people responsible for this.

And this was the turning point. Wayne and the council hatched a plan.

They got permission to plant secret cameras on the lane to try and catch the criminals in the act.

In situations where we're doing a covert camera, we need special permission. It's only for a month.

It lasted for a month and we got no hits from the camera.

Gutted! Their hopes were dashed. The fly-tippers stayed away and the sting looked like it had failed.

But the countryside crack squad weren't giving up that easily.

The council got an extension for another month. Game back on!

So you caught someone. Right, Wayne?

-It went on for about three or four weeks with nothing at all.

-Oh!

The officers went down to check the camera, change the battery and get ready to remove the camera.

Game over then.

But hold your horses! What have we here?

-Bingo! Gotcha!

-To the council's amazement, they had bagged an Oscar-winning piece of film.

Lo and behold, we get the result of Mr Price dropping his waste into the undergrowth,

which is great.

As you'll see in a moment, he's up to no good because he stops,

sees a car going by, waits...

..and hitches up his trousers because they're falling down, then gets back into the van.

As you'll see, he's throwing a large amount of waste into the undergrowth here.

When we interviewed him later, he said he was just placing it on the side. That's not true.

He was throwing it into the undergrowth, hoping someone else would clear it up.

It wasn't on his patch. He didn't care.

It's remarkable, the amount of stuff coming out. His van looks like the Tardis!

You're right. It is a bit of a Tardis.

Is he still going?

He'll pull a Dalek out in a minute!

But however much he's got in there, one thing's clear. The camera was catching it all.

No amount of time travel is going to save you from the law now, mate.

The council had got their man and they hauled him in for questioning.

At the interview under caution, he initially played dumb with us

and tried to pull the wool over our eyes

by saying that he was only putting it on the side.

If that's putting it on the side, I'm a Dutchman because he's just thrown it.

He said he would collect it later.

Collect it later? Pull the other one!

After we showed him the film, he accepted that he had put the waste down there.

That's what's known as a fair cop, mate, and as for Wayne, it's what's known as drinks all round.

After years of cleaning up the mess and seeing lots of amounts of fly-tipping,

it was a bit of a relief and a bit of a weight lifted off our shoulders

when South Staffordshire Council phoned us up to say the cameras had actually worked.

They had caught an individual and were going to prosecute.

It was quite heart-warming to find that someone was going to get caught for it

and face up to the consequences of what they had actually done.

Fred Price was ordered to serve 250 hours' community service,

pay costs of £539 and given a four-month suspended prison sentence for one count of fly-tipping.

The message I want to give out to people like Mr Price is, "A", we will come after you,

"B", when we catch you, you will get badly fined, so watch out.

In all honesty, he got what was coming to him.

Today, the crooked lane has a gate to try and deter fly-tippers

and the word's out that the crooked lane crack squad will be after you if you try anything,

even if you have got a Tardis.

From crooked houses to crooked plumbing, causing a filthy, rotten problem.

This is the edge of Epping Forest, a beautiful green space where London stretches into Essex.

Much of the water in these streams will have come from the roof gutters of houses and street drains nearby

through channels like these. It looks like fresh water that's safe for animals and wildlife.

But Thames Water has discovered that some fresh water streams

have been dangerously polluted and here's a scary thought.

It could be a householder like you who's the pesky polluter,

even though you're unaware of it.

What's more, polluters are liable for prosecution and ignorance is no defence,

so listen up very carefully to this man.

Chris Carthy from Thames Water is on a mission to get the Great British public to understand

that there's not one, but two sewer systems.

For our sewer networks, we've got a separate foul and surface water sewer system.

The surface water sewer system should just be taking run-off from the roads and also from the roofs.

The water runs into streams and rivers

while the foul water sewer system carries waste from toilets and sinks

into sewage plants for treatment and never should the two meet or mix,

but sadly, that's not the case

because some plumbers don't seem to know their soil stacks from their downpipes.

Look at this - toilet and bathroom basin plumbed into the rainwater downpipe.

Unbelievable, I know, but that's the root of this dangerous problem.

Unfortunately, across London we've got a real issue of misconnections of domestic appliances.

Kitchen sinks, washing machines, dishwashers are fairly often plumbed into the surface water drain,

hence these pollution issues which we see in the river as well.

And it's a massive problem.

Around 2% of properties in the Thames Water area have the wrong plumbing connections

and that figure is repeated across the UK.

Misconnections like these result in the equivalent of 16 Olympic-sized swimming pools of foul water

ending up in rivers and streams across the country every single day.

Eugh! It makes you feel quite queasy, doesn't it?

That's why Thames Water needs specialist contractors like Andy Huntley and Anthony Ridge

who steel themselves to sniff out the festering, foul mix-up.

The process is pretty low-tech.

A screen cage - this small roll of what looks like wire fencing

is used to collect evidence of contamination in the surface water sewer pipes.

We insert this into the sewer and it catches anything that goes through there

and the fungus grows on the bottom, so we can tell how much is in there.

This screen cage was put in three days ago, so it's ready for Andy and Anthony to assess.

-There's a bit of pollution on there.

-It looks mainly like leaf breakdown. It's very light.

It's a bit white in there and it smells a bit funky.

So there is evidence of a bad connection here and the really clever thing about this process

is the guys can pinpoint with amazing precision where the foul water is coming from.

If it's you, they'll find you.

We cage the surface water system at strategic points to narrow it down to individual roads,

then we do property surveys to try and understand which properties are contributing to the problem.

It's a lot of work we're doing with specialist pollution-tracing contractors to find these issues.

Andy and Anthony update Chris on what they've found

and crucially, how many houses they think have got problems.

Yeah, you can see, here's the outfall here.

And we've put our screen cages in at various places. You can see that this section's clean.

It's looking OK. And these areas we've marked with the pink are showing where the pollution is.

So have we surveyed the properties on this section that the cage found was polluted as well?

Yeah, we've already started surveying there and found three misconnections so far.

So they're being dealt with now and will be taken off and then it should look a lot cleaner.

-We'll gradually work our way through the others.

-That sounds good.

For Andy, it's a passion project. He's had plenty of experience of disgusting misconnected toilets

where the foul water flowed into streams. It's not just fungus and scum that you can see.

Sometimes we even come down to the outfall and it's really polluted.

You might find toilet waste and toilet paper

and that's due to the occasional builder plumbing in a toilet downstairs in the wrong sewer system

and that ends up in the water course. If it's close to where it discharges, it can make it terrible.

So you can understand why finding the household pumping it out is pretty important work.

Andy's come to one property where he thinks there could be a problem.

'We're here because I put a screen cage at the bottom of the road and found toilet waste in there.'

It was a process of elimination. We did each house individually until we found it.

Then it's time for the science bit. Well, it looks more like magic.

That red powder makes the water go green, but it does the trick.

I've put some green dye into the toilet, then flushed it.

Now it's going into the sewer system and we should see it in the road.

If it turns up in the foul water system, this property will be fine.

If it turns up in the surface water system, we have a cross connection and it's in the local water course.

Amazing detective work. Who knew there were people out there even investigating this kind of thing?

Next, Andy's got to follow the green dye to find out whether the plumber made the right connections

so the foul water ends up in a treatment plant, not the stream.

And now all will be revealed. Have we got misconnected pipes?

Go that way.

-Let's see.

-Green dye.

So this is a misconnected drain. The toilet's misconnected.

We'll talk to the person that owns the property

to get the rectification done.

We'll check it afterwards that it's not in the surface water system.

Another offending household down means the guys are getting closer to a total clean up of local streams.

They've made great progress in cleaning up these outfalls and streams at Epping Forest.

They used to be badly polluted,

but, as you can see, the guys' diligent work is paying off.

And there's another way to tackle the problem at source -

avoid using the wrong kind of plumber.

To stop toilet waste and dishwasher waste getting into rivers

people should talk to their contractor and make sure they know the different sewer systems.

A good contractor should know and be able to tell the difference and plumb it correctly.

In other words, steer clear of cowboy plumbers and do your bit to keep our streams fresh and clear.

Hear that, dog owners? Fresh and clear. That's what we want.

Back now with enforcement wardens Rob and Elaine inspecting the parks of Doncaster on their poo patrol.

It's a nasty job, but someone's got to do it.

What sort of time are they coming?

The team have an ingenious way to reward good citizens for cleaning up their dog do.

Anyone they see who has done the right thing gets their name put in a monthly prize draw.

The scheme that we've set up encourages people to clear up after their dogs

and it's not just fining people all the time. If there's an incentive for them to do it

and get a free hamper of food, then it's a nice way of saying thank you to the people who do do it.

Those people who we spoke to today will be put into a draw at the end of the month

and whoever wins wins some dog food, a hamper,

some toys and a big thank you from everybody.

Now dogs might like fetching sticks, but people seem to prefer a carrot to a stick,

so surely if more dog owners find out about the rewards, they'll start to pick up the poo.

We were miles away and saw this lady's dog poo. We've run up to her

and she's actually picked up, so we're planning to take her details and thank her

and put her in t'draw. Simple as that. Rob's getting the details.

They just approached us to say thank you for picking up the dirt, which anybody should do really.

Children play on here and it's obviously bad for them

to be walking in dog dirt. And they use it as a sports ground as well.

So we're just grateful that we can walk the dogs here and it's just a small thing

to clear up the mess. People should be aware of

what they do with their dogs when they're out and about.

Well, a happy customer there and Elaine and Rob seem to be getting their dog mess message across.

We've come across three people who we have put into the draw for our Responsible Dog Owners scheme.

Our presence seems to be working. It's a lot cleaner than it used to be, so we'll be back next week

to see if we can carry on with it.

Excellent news, Elaine. Now you've really found your footing, but be careful where you...tread.

As you can see, I've just trod in some dog muck.

It's not this lady's. This is what we're trying to stop.

Disgraceful. Absolutely disgraceful.

With a cleaned up shoe, Elaine and Rob set off to present this month's winner with their reward.

Mrs McMahon? It's Robert from Doncaster Council.

-We're here because you're the winner of our Responsible Dog Owner competition this month.

-Lovely.

Good girl.

What do you say?

I don't like it when I go walking. It's not very nice.

That's why I always clean up after my dog.

Respect for other people using the park.

You can see when your dog is fouling. They just seem to turn a blind eye and just walk away.

There's plenty of bins out there that you can use. There's a couple in the park that you can use.

If everybody did it, the parks would be kept cleaner and tidier for everybody.

Well done, guys. It's a happy ending for this canine caper

and the dog walkers of Doncaster can all tread a little less carefully tonight.

South Yorkshire Police Air Support Unit's high-octane work sees them tracking criminals

across Rotherham, Barnsley, Sheffield and Doncaster.

They make the most of every second of flying time, even on their way back from jobs.

The main job is police work,

but when we've concluded all that,

we try to help the council as well, so if they have fly tipping hotspots

and we're flying over that location on the way back from a task, we'll try to patrol the sites

and if anybody is fly tipping, we'll film them and gain evidence.

Their secret weapon is the state of the art camera on the helicopter.

As we can see, it spins 360 degrees so it will move all the way around.

It's got three lenses fitted to it, it's got a daylight camera and a low-light camera

and a thermal imaging camera, which gives us the ability to see in the dark,

But its killer feature is its long range. Anyone up to no good can be completely oblivious

that they're being caught in the act. And that's exactly what the Air Support Unit did

on their return from a busy day's aerial policing over Doncaster.

We'd initially deployed to go to a stolen vehicle.

It was a stolen Land Rover. They'd done the search for the vehicle and on the way back they decided

to fly back over a fly tipping hotspot.

Just as they got over the site, they saw what looked to be a flat-bed Transit vehicle

and there was somebody in the back unloading garden rubbish, tarpaulins.

Once the helicopter crew spotted something afoot,

they flew away to a distance of two miles to film the action unnoticed.

What the camera saw was green waste from a landscaping company's van

being unloaded in wheelbarrow loads onto an already huge fly tip.

They even stopped for a cup of tea and a biscuit. It was gold,

and these filthy rotten scoundrels had no idea they'd been framed.

They stood off, used the camera, the observer in the front filmed everything that he could see.

They then came back, copied all the evidence onto DVD and contacted the council, who took it further.

Mark Benton, Environmental Investigator at Doncaster Council, gratefully received the footage.

I was contacted by a police officer from the S4 unit and they said they'd got some footage.

We don't get footage like this very often,

so it's absolutely great to get image quality like this

where you can clearly see sign written vehicles, you can see the registration and the people.

Even though it was filmed from a distance, it was crystal clear.

What you've got is a young lad here and he's unloading polythene

and green waste out of a flat-back Transit van into a wheelbarrow.

He's using a fork to actually put all the waste in

and you can see the extent of the fly tipping around this area.

Would you believe it?

Instead of doing the right thing and going to an official waste site,

this pair of rascals have got wind of an existing fly tip and are merrily making it even bigger.

Apart from being an eyesore, this sort of fly tip is a dangerous hazard.

As you can see,

this is all combustible material. It wouldn't take nothing at all to set all this on fire

and either put people's life in danger or cause a significant impact on the local residents

from the smoke. This person - it seems to be a businessman -

what he's actually doing is getting people to pay him the correct price for the job,

and instead of legitimately getting rid of his waste, he's fly tipping it

and keeping the money in his own back pocket.

And the council have to pay out twice - one for the investigation costs for this fly tipping

and, two, as it's council land, we'll have to remove the waste,

which will cost thousands.

But the good news is, using this top-notch footage, Mark had all the evidence he needed to investigate.

Working in partnership with DVLA, I was able to get the name and address of the registered keeper.

I invited him in to see me and we did a taped interview,

under caution, like the police do.

And it was quite interesting.

Mark knew he had a strong case, but the van owner was completely in the dark about the evidence he had.

The chap that I interviewed said that he'd been on holiday,

he'd left the keys in the vehicle.

He didn't really know who'd had access to it. It could have been anybody that had used the vehicle

if it had been seen fly tipping. And he said loads of people borrow his vehicle,

but business had been very slack so he'd not moved any waste recently.

Is he a generous guy who wanted anyone without a van to have the use of his?

Or is he being a bit economical with the truth? Mark let him dig a big hole, then pressed "Play".

What I thought would be best to do was for him to view the footage and then ask for his comments.

Er, and it was quite clearly the same person that I was speaking to.

He just laid back in his chair and he says, "Well, you've got me bang to rights. What can I say?"

Well, how about "sorry" for a start for trying to blag your way out of this dirty, rotten crime?

Doncaster Council solicitors took the accused to court where he pleaded guilty to fly tipping.

Unfortunately, he only got fined £150 for the fly tipping and the other waste offences.

And the court decided to give the Council £100 as a contribution

towards the costs of not only investigating, but for removing the waste.

In some ways it's quite disappointing. However, he did plead guilty to the offence

and he did say he was of limited means, to be fair. And it was the first time he'd done it.

At the end of the day, this is a really persuasive argument for how two different teams

can really help fight for a rubbish-free Britain.

There's no way the Council could afford a helicopter to watch this.

And I think it sends a very clear message to fly tippers

that people are interested in keeping Doncaster looking nice

and the people who spoil it will be brought to justice.

A bird's eye view of foul behaviour from street level now. Meet John McSwan.

John's an Enforcement Manager at Brent Council. He makes sure

businesses stick to the rules of rubbish and keep our streets tidy.

Unfortunately, we have businesses

that will take any means of steps, any range of steps,

to avoid incurring costs for waste disposal.

The only way they get rid of waste is by illegal means.

John's had a little problem with a chicken shop in Kilburn that keeps laying some very rotten eggs.

The first instance took place on 7th October.

This was about 12.30am.

A member of staff emerged. He's dressed in a typical Chicken Express outfit, red top, red hat.

And throws the bags on the street.

He then returned to the shop.

The brazen cheek of it! Strutting up, preening his feathers and leaving a nasty surprise.

All businesses have to dispose of their waste correctly. Dumping it on the street is not clever,

nor correct. Tell them how it should be done, John.

Go into a contract with a licensed waste carrier

who will collect their waste and dispose of it.

Right. Option one - pay someone to take it away for you.

Alternatively, they can take it to a licensed civic amenities site

where they declare it as business waste, pay for its disposal

and get what they call a Waste Transfer Note as a receipt.

And option two - take it to the dump yourself. Simple.

If you don't dispose of your waste correctly, you'll ruffle John's feathers. But not just his.

They seem to think it's their right and the Council will clear it.

Well, I don't like it. We came up the road here and it was pretty gross.

Restaurants that don't dispose of waste properly need to be fined heavily.

And fined heavily is just what can happen.

They can be fined up to a maximum of £50,000 or six months in prison.

At the Crown Court, if they go there and they're found guilty,

there's unlimited fines and they can get up to five years in prison.

So that sort of indicates the seriousness of the offence.

Back at the chicken shop, that message just wasn't getting through.

Dumping their rubbish on the street wasn't a one-off. Night after night they'd lay another little egg.

It may seem like no big deal, but for local residents it's a major problem.

To just dispose of raw meat or leftovers from their restaurants or whatever is unacceptable.

It causes all manner of vermin. There's the smell of it.

On a hot day like this, can you imagine? It's absolutely unacceptable.

By now the chicken shop had caused a stink. They'd laid a dozen rotten eggs without a care in the world.

It was time for John McSwan to swoop. Get it? McSwan...swan. Swoop?

During the course of the investigation, we identified the owner as Mr Liaqat Ali.

He was shown the CCTV recordings as part of the interview process.

He fully admitted it was his premises, it was his staff that were dumping on a regular basis.

And he gave an explanation on the basis that he thought he had some arrangement for disposal in place.

That wasn't the case at all.

We traced no evidence to suggest this gentleman ever had an effective system to manage his waste.

The big bird at the chicken shop got a right roasting from the Council.

He accepted responsibility and ended up in court.

He pleaded guilty to all 12 offences

and he was fined, ordered to pay compensation and costs to a total of £4,800.

Job done, right? Wrong. The fine was just chickenfeed to Mr Ali.

The first series of offences were referred to our legal team for prosecution,

but while that was being implemented, remarkably and unbelievably, we picked up on Mr Ali

and his staff actually committing a further series of offences.

Unbelievable. By now the staff at the chicken shop had laid a dirty dozen and they didn't stop.

It looks like they didn't give a stuffing what the council or community thought.

When it comes to restaurants disposing their stuff the wrong way, that's unacceptable.

I have seen it and it's a nuisance. And distasteful.

He should be heavily fined so that he does toe the line

and accepts his responsibility as a trader in the neighbourhood.

It was time to give the owner another grilling.

Mr Ali was taken to court again. He squawked a guilty plea a second time and was given another fine.

He appeared in court again on 26th July and pleaded guilty to the second series of offences.

And he was fined and ordered to pay costs totalling £2,600.

In total, Mr Ali for those two series of offences

has been fined and paid costs in excess of £7,500.

Now they say that chickens are dumb birds. The ones at Chicken Express in Kilburn certainly are.

Mr Ali ended up paying out a total of £7,500,

but it didn't have to be as hard as laying a golden egg. John?

In reality, if he had taken the advice of the Council

and acted on the information we'd given him, he could easily have had a contract in place

that would have cost in the region of £500 a year.

I guess that leaves Mr Ali with egg on his face.

This mucky mess clutters our streets and wrecks our countryside,

but our environment enforcers are working day and night to make Britain cleaner.

Join us next time when we'll be chasing down more filthy, rotten scoundrels.

Subtitles by Subtext for Red Bee Media Ltd - 2011

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