A company owner appeared before magistrates today charged with fly-tipping 27 tonnes of untreated waste on a country lane.
Darren Sheen, 40, and his company Fusion Engineering did not enter pleas to a total of 13 charges brought by the local authority, Lichfield District Council.
They council were left with the task of clearing up the huge dump which measured two metres (8ft) high and more than 20 metres (65ft) long.
Its appearance overnight on Watery Lane effectively cut off the village of Curborough in Staffordshire which was already inaccessible from the other direction due to roadworks.
Prosecutor Mark Jackson told Cannock Magistrates Court: ‘t blocked emergency vehicles and caused huge disruption to local businesses.’
Among the many charges laid against him was the ‘failure to record any data on recording equipment or on a driver card’.
Sheen, wearing a crumpled blue shirt and tie, spoke only to give his name, address and date of birth during the 15 minute hearing.
His lawyer Rebecca Stanton indicated that no pleas would be given.
The waste was dumped overnight on a country lane serving around a dozen homes
Darren Sheen leaving Cannock Magistrates’ Court this morning
The eight-foot-high mound of rotting waste became a blot on the landscape at Curborough, near Lichfield in Staffordshire
The clear up took Lichfield District Council 38 hours to complete at a cost of over £10,000.
Their Environmental Health officers immediately began an investigation which ended up seizing a lorry believed to have been used in the incident on March 21.
Mr Jackson said that the matter was serious enough to be heard in the Crown Court.
Cannock Magistrates ordered that Sheen next appear before Stafford Crown Court for a plea hearing on August 4.
While the community could also usually be accessed from the other end of Watery Lane, residents said at the time that a section of the road had been closed for a number of weeks for roadworks connected with the construction of a new housing estate.
The dump meant residents were unable to leave the hamlet by vehicle.
The compacted rubbish included building rubble, fencing, vast amounts of plastic as well as shoes, a hairdryer and at least two England flags.
It spanned virtually the entire width of Watery Lane, leaving room only to edge past the mess on foot.
Sheen spoke only to give his name, address and date of birth during the 15 minute hearing
The dump meant residents were unable to leave the hamlet by vehicle as the other end of the lane had been been closed for roadworks connected with the construction of a new housing estate
Watery Lane runs to around a dozen homes in Curborough.
Among the villagers left stranded at the time was farmer’s wife Caroline Lees.
She told MailOnline back in January: ‘My husband is a chemotherapy patient and the thought of being trapped here and not being able to call the emergency services is very frightening.’
