Businessman Anthony Luck who tried to claim he was running a car repair garage and not an illegal scrapyard has been fined by magistrates.
Mr Luck, who traded as ANT Autos Ltd, made the claim to Salford City Council officers in a yard full of dismantled cars while standing close to signs saying “Wanted, scrap cars and vans, best prices paid.
Mr Luck finally admitted to trading standards officers that he didn’t think he would get a scrap yard licence because of a previous conviction – but continued trading as a scrap yard despite a closure notice being served on him.
Mr Luck, 59, and his partner Leigh Mullen, 33 of Walker Road, Winton pleaded guilty to four offences under the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013. They admitted carrying on as a scrap metal dealer not authorised by a licence, receiving scrap metal without verifying details of the person weighing in the metal, paying cash for scrap metal and failure to maintain records of the receipt and disposal of metal. The case was heard at Salford and Manchester magistrates court on Wednesday January 6.
The company ANT Autos Ltd was fined £1,100 and ordered to pay £1000 costs, Mr Luck was fined £1,200 and ordered to pay £1000 costs and Ms Mullen was fined £550 and ordered to pay £500 costs.
It’s the first prosecution by a local authority under the new legislation which came into force in October 2013.
The court heard that handmade advertising signs were seen on fences, roundabouts and motorway embankments around Eccles stating “Wanted Scrap Cars & Vans Best Prices Paid Min £125” with a mobile number to call.
Trading standards officers visited ANT Autos Ltd at Lyntown Trading Estate in April 2013. The yard was full of partly dismantled vehicles, large containers of wheels, alternators and engines and an old lorry trailer in the corner full of vehicle doors, bonnets and rear boots. A fork lift truck was lifting and stripped down car onto a flat bed trailer.
A sign in the warehouse was identical to the ones posted around Eccles but Mr Luck insisted he was only running a garage and all the vehicles and parts were his own for repairs.
Officers advised him about current and upcoming changes to the law and left application forms with him for a scrap metal dealer’s licence. They sent forms to the business in September 2013 and again by recorded delivery in February 2014, but Mr Luck, who was registered as the sole director of the company, did not apply or even contact the council.
In May 2014 officers searched the premises and found purchase orders and invoices from metal recyclers, records of vehicles bought and sold over the past year and waste transfer notes showing that catalyst converters, engines, batteries, alloy wheels and body panels, had been sold to three main scrap recyclers in the Greater Manchester area. Over £129,000 had been paid into both the business account and Ms Mullen’s personal account.
During the search Mr Luck told a trading standards officer he didn’t think he would be given a scrap licence because he had been in prison. He was handed a notice ordering him to stop trading as a scrap dealer within seven days.
Three weeks later officers found another ‘wanted scrap cars and vans’ advertisement bearing Mr Luck’s phone number, on fencing close to his home in Eccles. More checks showed the couple had continued to trade in scrap metal, ignoring the closure notice served in May, earning over £2,800 between June and August last year.
The couple were interviewed by officers but made no comment. The council applied to the courts for a closure order which was granted and served in January 2015. Trading has now stopped from the Eccles site.
Speaking after the case Councillor Gena Merrett, assistant mayor for housing and environment, said: “Mr Luck was well aware he should have applied for a licence but chose to ignore the law and carry on trading. His claim of being just a repair garage with advertising signs and evidence all around that he was actually a scrap metal dealer was simply ridiculous and he has finally faced the consequences of his actions.”
