The owner of a van has been prosecuted after it was used in a fly-tipping offence - despite the fact he wasn't there when the rubbish was dumped.

Luke Niggemann, 36, of Eden Park Avenue in Beckenham, pleaded guilty at Bromley Magistrates’ Court last week (April 11) and was fined £458.

The fly-tipping offence was caught on CCTV when a man driving Mr Niggemann’s Ford Transit dumped garden waste, black bags and other household items in a private alleyway in Croydon Road, Elmers End.

This was recorded on CCTV in May 2016 before a lengthy investigation was launched.

Bromley Council has warned people that if they lend a vehicle to someone – they are still responsible for it.

A council spokesman said: “If their vehicle is used to transport items or waste that is dumped, in the eyes of the law simply not knowing is not an excuse.

“It is a very similar principle that exists with the ‘duty of care’ responsibilities that residents are already aware of, that only registered waste carriers should be used to dispose of waste, otherwise residents could be prosecuted if their waste is then found fly-tipped.”

Mr Niggemann was also given a 12 month conditional discharge.

Bromley Council offers people up to £500 for fly-tipping information that helps lead to prosecution.

The 1990 Act states that “if the waste is deposited from a vehicle, the person who controls the use of the vehicle shall be treated as knowingly causing the waste to be dumped, whether or not he gave any instructions for this to be done”.