The owner of a vegan Chinese restaurant in Hackney has been fined nearly £20,000 after illegally dumping business waste on nine separate occasions.
Hackney Council said the restaurant, Facing Heaven, located off Mare Street, continued to fly-tip waste despite being issued a warning in January 2023.
The case was brought before Thames Magistrates’ Court on 22 April. The business owner was prosecuted for repeatedly fly-tipping without proper waste disposal arrangements in place. The court heard that despite being served with a duty of waste disposal notice in 2023, the fly-tipping continued until October 2024.
The operator was ordered to pay £19,400 — including £16,500 in fines, £900 in legal costs, and a £2,000 victim surcharge.
Hackney Council said the fly-tipping not only allowed the business to avoid waste disposal costs but also passed those costs on to the council, affecting taxpayers.
Cllr Sarah Young, Cabinet member for Climate Change, Environment and Transport, said:
“Our waste teams work hard to keep Hackney’s streets clean and we offer a really good range of waste and recycling services to residents and businesses. Many residents voluntarily help to keep their neighbourhoods clean and tidy too.
“Selfish actions from an irresponsible local business are an insult to all of our efforts – they force local council tax payers to pick up the bill for removing waste that has been illegally at a time when budgets are severely stretched. We only move to enforcement where residents or businesses fail to work with us and deliberately dump rubbish and then we will take action.
“We welcome the significant fine issued to this business, which will act as a deterrent to everyone about the severe consequences if they fail to dispose of their waste properly and responsibly.”
Chris Mitchell is the founder and editor of Harrow Online, Harrow’s leading local news platform.
He launched Harrow Online in 2010 as a Facebook page sharing local news and information. Since then, it has grown into a trusted source for breaking news, crime, council decisions, planning, transport, business and community stories across the borough.
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