A dog walker's drone filmed a van dumping house clearance waste on Barley Mow Lane near Colney Heath. The driver must do 160 hours' unpaid work and pay £821.

A man who dumped a van load of house clearance waste on Barley Mow Lane, near Colney Heath, was filmed doing it by a dog walker flying a drone overhead, and has now been sentenced at St Albans Magistrates’ Court.

Finlay Hennessy, who lived in Tyttenhanger Green a few hundred yards from the spot, admitted fly-tipping and a separate offence of carrying controlled waste in a vehicle without a licence on Thursday 5 November, St Albans City and District Council said. Magistrates ordered him to do 160 hours of unpaid work and to pay £821.

What the drone saw

The dog walker, who was out with his two young children, was taking aerial shots of the countryside when he spotted a Ford Transit van stopped on the lane. According to the council, the footage shows Hennessy throwing piles of rubbish out of the van onto the verge, emptying it, and then driving off, unaware he had been filmed.

The walker reported it to the council and handed over the footage, which also showed the van’s registration number. The council’s environmental enforcement team traced the van to Hennessy.

Drone footage of a van stopped beside the dumped waste on Barley Mow Lane, near Colney Heath. Video: supplied by St Albans City and District Council

The pile left behind included soiled mattresses, toys, clothes, photographs, children’s books and general household waste.

£821 and 160 hours

The £821 Hennessy must pay is made up of:

  • £307 compensation for the cost of clearing the lane
  • £400 towards the council’s legal costs
  • a £114 victim surcharge

The householder was fined too

Investigators found evidence linking the waste to a property in Hemel Hempstead. The householder told the council they had paid Hennessy to take it away after a leaflet offering a clearance service came through the door.

They had not checked whether he held a waste carrier licence. They accepted a £400 Fixed Penalty Notice for that duty of care offence.

“You never know who is watching”

Councillor Edgar Hill, the council’s lead for fly-tipping, said after the hearing:

“Our thanks go to the dog walker and his children for spotting this offender and doing the right thing by reporting him. They also provided the crucial drone evidence.

“We have regularly issued appeals to the public to help us combat fly-tipping by letting us know of any information they may have. This is an example of what can happen when they do.

“We hope this successful prosecution will act as a deterrent for anyone thinking of dumping waste illegally. You never know who is watching.

“Fly-tips are not only a criminal offence, but they are also a potential health hazard, a blot on the landscape and are costly to clear up. There is no excuse not to dispose of waste safely and legally.”

He said it was the council’s fourth prosecution this year, and that it had also issued 32 Fixed Penalty Notices. The maximum fly-tipping fine in the district has risen from £1,000 to £3,000, a change we reported in September.

What it means for you

If you pay someone to take rubbish away, the law expects you to check they are licensed first, and the Hemel Hempstead householder’s £400 fine shows what happens if you do not. A leaflet through the door is not proof. The Environment Agency keeps a public register of waste carriers you can search by name or registration number before handing anything over.

If you see waste being dumped, you can report it through the council’s fly-tipping page. A registration number, a photo or video, the place and the time are what let the enforcement team act, as this case shows. For household rubbish, check your bin collection day.

Sources: St Albans City and District Council: Fly-tipper caught by drone footage taken by an alert dog walker, 9 November 2026, with the photograph and drone footage the council supplied to St Albans Daily.