A Dagenham shopkeeper who blamed his neighbour for dumping rubbish has been ordered to pay more than £1,600.

Barking and Dagenham Post: Anwar blamed his neighbour for the rubbish. Picture: LBBDAnwar blamed his neighbour for the rubbish. Picture: LBBD (Image: LBBD)

Mr Umar Anwar, who ran LondonBlinds4U in Oxlow Lane, was visited by council officers on February 21 after a pile of commercial waste was found chucked in a bin for household rubbish.

Cardboard boxes and tubes addressed to “East London Blinds” on the same street were shoved in the bin behind the row of shops, officers noted, with other piles of waste behind the business.

When contacted about the mess, Anwar admitted the cardboard in the bin was from his company but denied having put it there, accusing his neighbour instead and claiming he sends all his business’ waste to Yorkshire for recycling.

Officers had doubts, slapping Anwar with two formal notices demanding he show copies of his waste carrier licence and rubbish transfer records for the last two years.

He failed to provide any documents backing his claim, said a spokesman for Barking and Dagenham Council.

Two fines of £300 each were issued for both offences, but Anwar refused to pay up.

The case was referred to Barkingside Magistrates’ Court, where Anwar claimed under oath that he could not speak any other language than English.

However the court heard how his first witness, who required a translator who speaks Urdu, said he had chatted multiple times with Anwar in Urdu.

Anwar pleaded not guilty to the charges, claiming he does not produce waste and the rubbish in the bins and his yard were from a leak in his premises that he had repaired.

Yet the court still prosecuted after he failed to pay the £300 fine for not providing waste transfer notes, the £300 offered as a discharge of liability and for not handing over a copy of a licence to carry controlled waste.

He was fined £420 and ordered to pay £1148 costs to the council and a £42 victim surcharge.

Cllr Laila Butt, cabinet member for enforcement and community safety, said the council “takes a strong view” and a “zero-tolerance approach” on dumping waste.

“It is important that our businesses follow the right guidelines and ensure they have a Waste Carrier License,” she added.