A couple have admitted their involvement in a flytipping spree in which one Hertsmere lane was targeted ten times in less than three weeks.

Daniel Duncan, aged 24, and his partner Kelly-Jane Marle, 28, both of Pyrcroft Court, Pyrcroft Road, Chertsey, Surrey pleaded guilty to one count each of illegally depositing controlled waste when they appeared at St Albans Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

In addition, Duncan admitted seven counts of failing in his duty of care to protect the environment and Marle admitted one count. The case was brought by Hertsmere Borough Council with significant assistance from Hertfordshire Police.

Footage from council-owned CCTV cameras showed a Ford Transit tipper truck, insured to Marle, driving along Hilfield Lane South, Bushey, loaded with waste and then returning without a load on multiple occasions between February 11 and 26 last year.

The tipper truck was later seized and destroyed by the council under new legal powers. Footage also showed Duncan and another unidentified man dumping waste in the lane on February 26. The court heard their crimes were ‘deliberate’ and done for commercial gain.

Councillor Seamus Quilty said: “The amount of waste dumped in Hilfield Lane South over the course of the month of February last year was unprecedented.

“During that time, piles of rubble and bricks, windows, buckets, doors, cardboard, timber, furniture and even toys were found in the lane on ten separate occasions.

“The cost of clearing and investigating these incidents ran into thousands of pounds and hours of work by officers. This was commercial flytipping on a scale never seen before and I’m delighted that this case has come to court.

“It serves as a warning to flytippers but also shows the necessity of employing licensed waste carriers as the homeowners involved were not aware that their waste would end up dumped in this way.”

The defendants will be sentenced at St Albans Crown Court at 10am on March 3.