A MAN has admitted using an ex-reservoir site at a Baildon beauty spot to illegally dump construction waste.

Clive Andrew Jones appeared in court on Tuesday morning to plead guilty to two charges relating to dumping and storing waste on sites in the district without an environmental permit.

And the Court heard that Jones, 61, of Westgate Hill Street, has a previous conviction for similar matters.

Appearing at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates' Court, he admitted that between April 27, 2018 and October 25, 2018, he operated a regulated facility in Baildon - namely a waste operation for the deposit, treatment and storage of waste, “other than under and to the extent authorised by an environmental permit.”

This charge referred to a reservoir site on Baildon Moor.

The second charge that he admitted was that on July 26, 2018 at Burley-in-Wharfedale he operated a regulated facility - namely a waste operation for the deposit of waste, other than under and to the extent authorised by an environmental permit.

Matthew Treece, prosecuting on behalf of the Environment Agency, said environmental permits were needed for such waste facilities, and that Jones was fully aware that he did not have the permits for the sites to legally operate.

He said: “Mr Jones accepted that in 2018 two sites he was connected to were used as waste sites without any Environmental Permit in place.

“When it comes to Baildon Reservoir, he was filling it up by depositing a variety of different waste types – including construction and demolition waste.”

He told Magistrates that Jones was obviously aware that depositing this waste would need a permit, as he had already applied for a waste exemption for the site.

Mr Treece said he was warned multiple times by both the Environment Agency and Bradford Council that what he was doing was against the law. Mr Treece said: “He kept on going.”

He added: “The defendant has previous experience of this type of offending. In 2016, he was convicted of similar offences which related to similar activity and the mis use of waste exemptions.

“He had registered for exemptions that didn’t cover what he was doing.”

Magistrates were told that the offences could lead to a custodial sentence.

Michael O’Garra, defending, said: “The difficulty my client faces is that he carried on doing it after being warned by the Environment Agency, and his previous convictions for having done very similar activity some years earlier.”

Magistrates decided to stand down the case so the Probation Service can complete a report into Jones.

They said his offending was deliberate, and he was “fully aware” of the restrictions imposed on the site.

He will appear in court to be sentenced on February 16.