Environment chiefs in the Eden Valley have reported two successful prosecutions - one of an illegal scrap metal dealer and the other of a woman who refused to put her dog on a lead.

Trina Hodgson was seen walking her dog off a lead in the town on November 2 last year, say officials.

When a community warden asked her to use a lead, she refused.

Hodgson, of Anchor Close, Penrith was later charged with failing to have her Labrador-type dog on a lead, as specified by the Public Spaces Protection Order.

She was originally offered the option of a £75 fixed penalty fee but failed to pay within the time limit.

She admitted the charge.

Magistrates ordered Hodgson to pay £233, says Eden District Council.

In a second prosecution, a man who was collecting scrap metal in Eden was found guilty of carrying on that business without the required licence.

Kirk Moore, of Seaton Avenue, Houghton-Le-Spring, did not enter a plea but was convicted.

He was given a fine and costs totalling £634.

The case was brought after a community warden saw the defendant collecting scrap metal on 28 November, 2018, from houses in Croft Avenue, Penrith.

Sara Watson, Eden District Council’s Principal Environmental Health Officer, said: “I would like to remind residents to always check the credentials of those collecting their scrap metal and to be wary of adverts on social media, offering scrap metal collection.

"This prosecution should serve as a warning to other illegal scrap metal collectors-if you collect scrap in our area, without a licence, you face substantial fines. Ignorance of the law is no defence and we will continue to clamp down on illegal traders.”

Anyone collecting scrap metal in the Eden area has to have a licence from Eden District Council.

Residents are strongly advised to check that anybody offering to collect scrap metal should be displaying their licence, with a photograph, clearly in their vehicle windscreen. The public should be aware that giving their scrap metal to an unlicensed collector could result in unwanted items, such as fridges, being fly tipped, takes trade away from licensed, legitimate businesses and could also result in them being subject to enforcement action themselves for failing in their duty of care to dispose of their waste responsibly.

All licensed scrap metal dealers, which includes sites and collectors, undergo checks by Eden District Council and Cumbria Constabulary in order to ensure that only those who are deemed ‘fit and proper’ are issued with a licence to trade.

For more information about Eden District Council visit www.eden.gov.uk or call 01768 817817.