A DEESIDE farmer has been landed with a court bill of £3,230 after he ignored warnings to clear waste off his land.

David McCarrick claimed he didn’t have time to shift the 450 tonnes of green vegetation and treated wood which had accumulated at Morriston Farm in Sealand. He said he was cash-strapped as he failed to qualify for EU support, so he was prioritising finding a new home for his cattle herd when he quits the tenanted land.

But Deputy District Judge Martin Jackson fined McCarrick £500 with costs of £2,680 and told him: “You had notices, but you chose to ignore them.”

Prosecuting for Natural Resources Wales, Dafydd Roberts, said McCarrick pleaded guilty three years ago to operating a waste facility without a licence. He received a notice in December 2016 in respect of the waste and received a further notice on May 20 this year asking him to remove it from the land.

When NRW officers visited the Green Lane farm in May last year he told them he was struggling financially and his priority was feeding his herd.

When the officers returned on June 25 this year it was clear the waste had not been removed and it appeared new waste had been piled near to a gate.

“There was waste under some power cables which was a major concern in case it caught fire,” said the prosecutor.

North East Wales Magistrates’ Court was told the cost of removing the waste to landfill would be £14,107.

But the court heard McCarrick was due to lose the farm after Flintshire County Council was granted a possession order.

He said he wanted to keep the 100-strong herd so his son could carry on farming and that had been his focus.

Victoria Hanley, defending, said McCarrick accepted the waste had not been removed.

“He needs to make arrangements to remove it, but he is in dire financial straits,” said the solicitor.

McCarrick, she said, was working on other farms to support his meagre income which had been slashed because of low milk prices and because he was not entitled to the single farm payment.

“He has been relying on a charity which has given him pay and corn. But the welfare of his animals has been the priority,” said Ms Hanley.

She said the defendant didn’t accept he’d added to the waste and had started to “chip” some of it.

McCarrick, 54, admitted failing to remove waste in contravention of a notice served on May 20 this year.