WASTE from a city centre gym was dumped on three Bradford roads instead of being taken to a nearby tip – a court has heard.

Ceiling tiles were among the waste dumped on Mutton Lane, Shay Lane and Long Lane – but the perpetrator was caught on CCTV.

On Thursday, Mohammed Mobasher was due to appear at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates Court to answer fly-tipping charges.

He failed to appear, and was found guilty in his absence.

He will be sentenced in November.

The court heard that on May 25 2022, Bradford Council received reports of fly-tipping on the three roads.

When officers visited the site they found correspondence among the waste linking it to a city centre gym on Westgate.

CCTV had been installed at the fly tipping hotspots, and officers noticed a white Ford transit on all three streets at the same time as the fly tipping.

Checking CCTV of the Westgate area, they saw the same white transit parked on Westgate, with a number of people loading waste into the back.

When officers visited the gym they found it had ceased trading and closed down.

The vehicle was traced to an address on Weetwood Road, and officers attempted to contact the owner.

These attempts proved unsuccessful and on November 4 they attended the house with officers from West Yorkshire Police’s Operation Steerside team and seized the vehicle.

Soon after they were contacted by the vehicle’s owner, who said he had given Mobasher, 44 of Weetwood Road, the keys to the vehicle and £150, along with instructions to take the waste to Bowling Back Lane tip.

When Mobasher was interviewed he confirmed this, but said he then passed on the keys to the vehicle to another person, and instructed him to do what he had been asked to do.

Joanne Gleeson, prosecuting on behalf of Bradford Council, said Mobasher argued he was a passenger in the vehicle when the fly tipping took place, and didn’t do it himself.

She said: “We would say he was in control of the vehicle – it was him who the owner had passed the keys to. He was present and did nothing to prevent this illegal disposal of controlled waste.”

Magistrates found Mobasher guilty in his absence. He will be sentenced on November 21, and a warrant will be issued if he does not attend.