{"id":526754,"date":"2026-03-10T12:16:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/526754\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:16:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:16:08","slug":"120-vehicles-stopped-in-rural-crime-crackdown-east-surrey-news-leatherhead-living","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/526754\/","title":{"rendered":"120 vehicles stopped in rural crime crackdown \u2013 East Surrey News \u2013 Leatherhead Living"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

News<\/a><\/p>\n

Published:09:5410\/03\/2026<\/p>\n

More than 120 predominantly commercial vehicles were stopped last week in Surrey as part of an ongoing crackdown on rural crime.<\/p>\n

On Friday, 27 February, the Surrey Police rural crime team carried out a day of action in Waverley and Mole Valley, tackling waste crime and plant machinery theft.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Assisted\u00a0by\u00a0officers from\u00a0the Roads Policing Unit, Special Constables,\u00a0and\u00a0Safer Neighbourhood Teams,\u00a0as well as representatives from\u00a0Mole Valley District Council, Waverley Borough Council,\u00a0and the Environment Agency, officers stopped a total of 122 vehicles,\u00a0processed 26 offences, and made one arrest.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Surrey Police issued\u00a010\u00a0pieces of process for road traffic offences, including no tax\u00a0and\u00a0no insurance, and a man was arrested at the roadside for\u00a0failing to provide\u00a0a specimen of breath.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Paul Fischer, 37 (20\/01\/1989), from Leatherhead, was\u00a0subsequently\u00a0charged with\u00a0failing to co-operate\u00a0with a preliminary breath test and\u00a0failing to provide\u00a0a specimen for analysis. He has been bailed to attend Guildford Magistrates Court in May.\u00a0<\/p>\n

10\u00a0waste-related offences,\u00a0including\u00a0carrying waste without a waste licence\u00a0or not having a waste transfer licence, were\u00a0identified\u00a0by Mole Valley District Council\u00a0who issued \u00a3300 fixed penalty notices to each offender.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Environment Agency\u00a0have opened investigations into four\u00a0additional\u00a0complex waste matters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Superintendent Chris Tinney, rural crime portfolio lead for Surrey Police, said,\u00a0\u201cWaste crimes have a far-reaching and hugely detrimental impact on our rural communities. The economic impact is also significantly high for farmers and landowners, who often spend thousands of pounds clearing illegally dumped waste from their land.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBy adopting a multi-agency approach we can\u00a0shut down every potential avenue for\u00a0waste crime\u00a0offenders,\u00a0the\u00a0police can stop vehicles, enforce wider offending and in turn allow our expert partners to enforce specific waste legislation\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI am grateful to our colleagues\u00a0at Mole Valley\u00a0District Council,\u00a0Waverley Borough\u00a0Council,\u00a0and the Environment Agency for\u00a0their support and participation,\u00a0and look forward to working with them\u00a0again\u00a0in future.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will be carrying\u00a0out\u00a0these enforcement operations across Surrey\u00a0throughout the year alongside other rural crime\u00a0priorities\u00a0and\u00a0dealing robustly with any offences we find.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Matt Higginson, Environment Manager at the Environment Agency said, \u201cI share the public\u2019s anger at waste crime, where those responsible have no care for the environment. The results from this day of action are another\u00a0great example\u00a0of partner organisations working together to protect communities and the environment. We will be taking\u00a0appropriate enforcement\u00a0action against the businesses or individuals we found to be non-compliant.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis road stop is one of many we do with our partners and should serve as a warning to those who would flout the law. We will continue to search out waste crime and\u00a0won\u2019t\u00a0hesitate to act when operators work outside of the law.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTo avoid giving your waste to an illegal waste carrier and it\u00a0ending\u00a0up at an illegal waste site, we encourage you to check you waste collector is registered with the Environment Agency at\u00a0Waste carriers, brokers and dealers (data.gov.uk)<\/a>\u00a0or by calling 03708 506 506.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf anyone suspects illegal waste activity, you can report it to the Environment Agency\u2019s 24-hour hotline by calling 0800 80 70\u00a060, or\u00a0anonymously contacting Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Councillor Tony Fairclough, Waverley Borough Council\u2019s Portfolio Holder for Enforcement and Regulatory Services, said,\u00a0\u201cWaverley Borough Council takes fly\u2011tipping extremely seriously. We have a dedicated team that investigates incidents and works closely with local agencies and landowners to prevent and deter fly\u2011tipping across the borough.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe welcome joint operations with Surrey Police such as this, where vehicles are stopped and checked for valid Waste Carrier Licences and Waste Transfer Notes. These checks play an essential role in\u00a0identifying\u00a0and discouraging rogue operators who may be involved in illegal dumping, while also enabling\u00a0the police\u00a0to carry out wider safety and compliance checks on vehicles and individuals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEqually important is ensuring that residents understand how to choose a legitimate waste carrier and avoid unintentionally using rogue operators, thus helping to reduce fly-tipping and ensure the responsible disposal of waste\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"News Published:09:5410\/03\/2026 More than 120 predominantly commercial vehicles were stopped last week in Surrey as part of an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":526755,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194299],"tags":[49,48,87674],"class_list":{"0":"post-526754","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-surrey","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-surrey"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=526754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/526755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=526754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=526754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=526754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}