Five people have appeared in court after dumping household furniture on the streets.

They were all prosecuted by the district council for fly-tipping the waste - which included sofas, beds and a mattress - in the Dover Road area of Folkestone.

On Wednesday Jason Stowers, of Pavilion Road, was given an eight-week prison sentence suspended for 18 months for dumping a sofa in Dover Road in August 2020.

Two days earlier four people were convicted at Folkestone Magistrates' Court for similar offences.

Deanjohn Coyle-Curran, of St John's Street, was fined a total of £534 for leaving a sofa in Dover Road in April.

The fly-tipping of a bed and mattress in Mill Bay in May cost Lukus Vlk, of Cheriton Road, a total of £675.

Co-defendants Marian Mitroi and Marian Miturca, both of Dover Road, were each fined a total of £638 for dumping household waste, including a mattress and carpets, in Dover Road in May.

"We shall continue to do all that we can to ensure that the district is kept clean..."

Cllr Stuart Peall, Folkestone and Hythe District Council cabinet member for waste, said: "Residents quite rightly complain when furniture appears to be dumped on the pavement and in areas near their homes.

"It spoils their neighbourhood and causes a hazard if it blocks the pavement.

"As a council we shall continue to do all that we can to ensure that the district is kept clean and tidy and an area where residents enjoy living - not one blighted by the unsightly mess of dumped rubbish.

"In these five cases our environmental officers have worked with our legal team to secure prosecutions and we hope that the outcomes will make others think again before leaving unwanted furniture in the street.”

Antisocial behaviour, including fly-tipping incidents for clearing up and investigation, can be reported on the council's website.

To read more of our in depth coverage of all of the major trials coming out of crown and magistrates' courts across the county, click here

Read more: All the latest news from Folkestone