Nightclub owner prosecuted after dumping rubbish on Market Street

A Stalybridge nightclub owner has been ordered to pay £3,840 after repeatedly failing to deal with his business waste legally and dumping rubbish on a town centre street.

Ian Whittaker, owner of Decades Heaven and Hell on Market Street, was found guilty in his absence at Tameside Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday 3 December, after failing to comply with a statutory notice and ignoring a Fixed Penalty Notice issued earlier this year.

The court heard that Tameside Council served Whittaker with a statutory notice on 27 February 2024, requiring him to provide waste transfer notes, receipts, or proof of a commercial waste contract. Council officers had been alerted by waste services that the nightclub’s contract had been suspended following non-payment.

A subsequent investigation by the council’s waste enforcement team uncovered waste from the nightclub dumped on Market Street. As a result, a Fixed Penalty Notice was issued on 4 April 2024, but despite several reminder letters, Whittaker failed to pay, prompting the council to press ahead with prosecution.

The case was initially listed for March 2025, but after Whittaker entered a not guilty plea, a trial was scheduled for 3 December 2025. He did not attend the hearing, and magistrates agreed to proceed without him. A waste enforcement officer gave evidence, and the bench found the case proven.

Magistrates imposed a £1,100 fine, a £440 victim surcharge, £300 in costs, and ordered Whittaker to pay £2,000 in compensation to the council, bringing the total to £3,840.

Cllr Laura Boyle, Tameside Council’s Executive Member for Environmental Services and Neighbourhoods, welcomed the outcome.

“This is a great result from our team and from court – the large fine reflects the seriousness of the offence and the negative impact it had on the local community in Stalybridge,” she said.

“Businesses in the UK are required by law to manage their waste properly, which includes having a commercial waste contract. It’s not fair for residents to have to pay for commercial waste to be disposed of or for them to have to endure business waste being dumped in the street.

“I know how much irresponsibly dumped waste concerns our community and we will always take enforcement action where we have evidence against the offenders.”