Illegal scrap metal collection will not be tolerated in Oxford, the City Council has said after securing a prosecution against an unlicensed collector.
Marius Ion, 28, of Deykin Avenue in Birmingham, was fined £1,500 for collecting scrap metal in Oxford without a licence at Oxford Magistrates’ Court on 4 March.
Under the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013, it is illegal to collect scrap metal in an area without a Scrap Metal Collector Licence from the area’s licensing authority.
The act gives local authorities, alongside police, the power to prosecute.
On Friday 10 August 2018, community response officers from Oxford City Council stopped two people who were collecting metal from a garden in Campbell Road, Oxford.
The City Council officers asked to see a relevant licence. A Scrap Metal Collector Licence in Ion’s name was produced, but for a neighbouring local authority.
On 13 December, during a police and criminal evidence interview, Ion confirmed that he understood he could not collect scrap metal in Oxford, and that he was aware ahead of picking up and loading the metal that he was inside the city’s boundaries.
Ion, who did not attend court, was fined £1,500 for the offence in his absence, and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £150 and costs of £250.
The City Council’s licensing team, which carried out the prosecution, has reported the outcome of the case to the neighbouring local authority that issued Ion with a Scrap Metal Collector Licence.
For more information about Scrap Metal Collector Licences, including information about how to apply, please visit our Scrap Metal Dealers pages.
Councillor Tom Hayes, Executive Board Member for a Safer and Greener Environment, said: “This prosecution sends a clear message that illegal scrap metal dealing in Oxford will not be tolerated and we will continue to crack down on this illegal activity to protect the residents of Oxford from rogue traders."
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