A BUSINESSMAN from Kings Langley was this week convicted of burning commercial waste.

Philip Longuehaye, director of Acute Construction Ltd, was fined £1,000 at Watford Magistrates Court on Tuesday for the repeated burning of commercial waste at his yard in Kings Langley.

Mr Longuehaye was also fined £200 for obstructing and ejecting a Three Rivers District Council officer who had visited the site in Toms Lane last year to investigate complaints from neighbours of dark smoke and noxious fumes polluting the neighbourhood.

In addition, the court ordered Mr Longuehaye to pay the council's costs of £1,900.

Mr Longuehaye had previously received a formal warning from the council against having bonfires on his land, under the provisions of the Clean Air Act 1993, in July 2004.

Phil Brading, portfolio holder for public services and health, said: "The council is satisfied that a conviction was secured in this case.

"Protecting the local environment from harm is one of our key priorities and we will not hesitate to take action against anyone wilfully causing damage which affects local people in this way."

A Three Rivers District Council representative added: "With the relatively high cost of waste disposal, compounded by the Landfill Tax, the council receives an increasing number of complaints about commercial bonfires.

"Burning commercial waste substantially reduces its bulk and so reduces the ultimate cost of disposal.

"However, this is at the expense of local air quality and the health of the wider community."

She said that the council exercises a zero tolerance ethic when dealing with illegal waste incineration and in so doing has successfully fought off two appeals against enforcement notices within the last 18 months.