A HAULAGE company with a waste transfer station in Tunbridge Wells has been fined £5,000 by the town's magistrates in a prosecution brought by the Environment Agency. Dan Wiley, the agency's solicitor told the court that environment protection officers had e made a routine visit to the Erith Haulage Company's North Farm Lane site.

The check on the waste transfer station on January 4 this year revealed waste was being stored in piles much higher than those allowed by the firm's waste management licence.

Despite being issued with a warning letter, later visits to the site showed that piles of waste were still being stored at excess levels. The company admitted two breaches of its licence.

In its defence, the court was told that the waste was unlikely to pollute the local environment and that the site was free from litter. The firm had invested a significant amount in recycling, albeit mostly at its central site in Erith.

A new manager had been put in charge since the incidents at Tunbridge Wells. Erith Haulage was fined £2,500 for each offence, and ordered to pay £1,088 costs. Later Mr Wiley said: "The agency will continue to crack down on businesses that fall outside waste management regulation.

"Licences are issued to protect the environment, and companies have a duty to keep to them.