Two waste haulage operators have been prosecuted by a Kent council this month after they failed to pay fines for unlicenced skips.

J&H Haulage and Hinton Skips both appeared at Bromley Magistrates’ Court after being served with fixed penalty notices that they did not pay.

Bromley Council, which brought the prosecutions, said it had received a report of an unlicensed skip placed on a public green space in June 2024.

J&H Haulage, which has a licence authorising a total of 30 lorries out of three bases in Kent, pleaded guilty to one charge under the Highways Act 1980 and was ordered to pay £150 in fines and costs.

The second prosecution involved a separate unlicensed skip that was left on Homesdale Road.

The skip was reported by a neighbourhood officer in June this year and its owner, Hinton Skips UK, which held a restricted licence for 18 HGVs until it was surrendered in October, was ordered to pay a total of £731 in fines and costs after being proved guilty at Bromley Magistrates’.

The council said both prosecutions served to remind skip operators of the importance of having a licence, as part of the council’s campaign to keep the highway free of obstruction and in support of road safety.

A council spokesperson said: “Unlicensed skips can pose a danger to both residents and passersby.

“Therefore, it is important that companies obtain a licence and, in these examples, both companies were given the chance to rectify the situation by paying a fixed penalty notice.

“Most skip operators obey the law, but this is a reminder to all to have a valid licence or risk prosecution.”

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