A MAN and his nephew have been convicted of dumping waste from household refits on derelict land in north London.

Thomas Stokes, 51, of Oak Lane, Billericay, and 32-year-old nephew, Brian Stokes, discarded four van-loads of construction material between them at Stonehill Business Park in Edmonton in 2017.

The Environment Agency prosecuted the pair after they were caught on CCTV ditching the waste on open land close to the north circular road. They were then caught unloading waste from a black and white tipper van at a former auction site, twice, in just over an hour.

In January 2018, officers later used powers to seize the van at a pub in Welwyn Garden City, before crushing it.

Back in December 2017, Brian Stokes arrived at the business park to do the same thing as his uncle had – dump waste illegally.

The younger Stokes was driving a different tipper van, but just as uncle Thomas was caught on CCTV, Brian was seen dumping construction waste from the vehicle before driving off.

The convictions are part of Operation Angola, a joint effort by the Environment Agency and various agencies to target gangs of criminals like the Stokes pair who dump significant amounts of waste across the South East.

Sitting at Ealing magistrates’ court on June 11, Thomas Stokes was sentenced to four months in prison, suspended for a year. He was also ordered to complete 100 hours unpaid work and pay £500 in costs and a £85 victim surcharge.

Appearing at the same court, Brian Stokes was told he faced prison if he visited any illegal waste site in the next ten years, or offered to take away someone’s waste in the same period. Like his uncle, he was ordered to pay costs of £500 and a victim surcharge of £85.

Emma Viner, area enforcement manager for the Environment Agency, said: “We pursue law-breakers from the crime to the courtroom.”