Llanelli's Sospans Skips bosses to pay £180k for illegal dumping
The owners of a skip hire firm in Llanelli have been ordered to pay £180,000 after illegally dumping thousands of tonnes of waste.
William and Susan Charles from Sospan Skips had previously admitted charges relating to dumping waste on farmland in Carmarthenshire.
They were given three months to pay confiscation orders totalling £180,000 or face prison.
The orders were made under the Proceeds of Crime Act at Swansea Crown Court.
They also have to pay court costs of £20,000 and another defendant, Bruce Charles, was previously ordered to pay £10,000 in costs after admitting the dumping charges.
Judge Paul Thomas QC gave the company a two-year conditional discharge as it does not have any assets and because of the order imposed on the company's directors following the offences between April 2009 and May 2014.
After the hearing, Lyn Richards, environmental crime team leader for Natural Resources Wales, said the "motivation behind the crime was financial".
"Disposing of waste illegally can harm the environment and undermines businesses that invest in the required measures," he added.