A PENSIONER has been banned from driving for six weeks after using his car to illegally dump waste.

When environmental health officers challenged William Fletcher, 67, about his car being used to dump waste, he admitted he had agreed to ditch rubble and an unwanted toilet for a neighbour.

As a result Blackburn magistrates have stripped Fletcher, of Whitehead Street, of his driving licence after he pleaded guilty to allowing his car to be used for waste disposal.

He was also fined £150 after admitting two offences of knowingly permitting waste to be deposited, and ordered to pay £200 costs and £68 in compensation to the borough council.

Magistrates were told that the investigation began last May following complaints by a resident in Grindleton Street, Blackburn, who saw a white car pull up and dump a pink toilet pedestal in a nearby alleyway.

The registration number of the vehicle was noted and reported to the council. A week later a woman was seen dumping three bags of rubble in nearby Leamington Road. Again the registration number was noted and passed on to the council.

Both incidents seemingly involved the same car and its owner, Fletcher, was questioned by environmental health officers.

He admitted he had been the driver during both incidents, claiming he had been paid to dump the waste by a neighbour.

He said his son Carl and a friend, Karen Wignall, had helped him, at the respective locations, because he had an injured knee. No action was taken against Carl Fletcher.

But Wignall, 35, of Belle Vue Street, Blackburn, admitted depositing waste and was fined £150, with £75 costs and £68 compensation.

Previously in November 2006 council officers had quizzed both Fletcher and his son over allegations that they had been dumping waste on a commercial basis but no proceedings were ever started.

A Blackburn with Darwen council spokesman said the power to disqualify motorists such offences had been around for a number of years.

He added: "If an offence is committed using a vehicle then magistrates have the power to impose a driving ban, in addition to any other penalty."