A Wiltshire man has been arrested and fined over £1,000 for fly-tipping, after a dispute with a binman caused him to empty his bin on to the road.

Crews from Hills Municipal Collections, Wiltshire Council’s waste contractor, were emptying recycling bins on Carisbrooke Cresent in Hilperton on June 28, 2023, when a Land Rover completely blocked the lorry's path.

The driver, Reuben Spong, took a blue-lidded wheelie bin out of his Land Rover and began dragging it towards the bin lorry in an attempt to deal with the recycling himself.

But the refuse drivers were quick to press the emergency cut off button, stopping Mr Spong's attempt and sparking a dispute.

The Hilperton man's recycling had not been collected and instead given a red contaminated warning which he ripped off, as well as swearing at the workers, asking if the loader was going to “f****** take it".

He also pushed the bin towards them.

When one member of staff explained that the bin would need to have the contaminated items removed before it could be emptied, Mr Spong tipped the bin's contents over the road, wheeled it back to his car and drove off.

​Following the altercation, the resident has now been arrested, prosecuted and fined £1,133 in court for fly-tipping.

The dispute began over a blue recycling bin that workers refused to collectThe dispute began over a blue recycling bin that workers refused to collect (Image: Getty)

The red label on Mr Spong's bin which had started the dispute is part of the council’s Recycling- let’s sort it! awareness campaign.

“We launched the Recycling – let’s sort it! campaign to raise awareness in our communities about the items that can and cannot be recycled in blue lidded bins, and to increase our recycling efforts," said councillor Nick Holder, cabinet member for highways, flooding and street scene.

“In this case, Mr Spong had items in his blue bin that we are unable to collect and our waste teams informed him of this with the red contamination hanger.

"If he removed the incorrect items, he could have put his bin out again at his next collection date.

"However, he took it upon himself to act inappropriately towards our contractors and fly-tip the waste in the street.

"This successful prosecution shows that we will not tolerate this type of behaviour towards our contractors, or fly-tipping in this way.

“I’d like to thank the refuse collectors on that day for their diligence and professionalism in dealing with the situation, and also Wiltshire Police for helping us to track down and prosecute this man.”

Nicola Towell, contract manager at Hills Municipal Collections, added: “Abuse of our staff, in any form, will not be tolerated and any threats towards them will be reported to the police."