THE SISTER of a young man who died in a car accident has branded flytippers who dumped rubbish on his memorial ‘heartless’.

On April 9, 2002 Adam Hiskey, from Ongar, was 26 years old when he died in a seven car crash in which his vehicle slid underneath a parked lorry on the A414.

For the following 16 years his family visited and cleaned the memorial without incident, until October 2017, when a small amount of rubbish was left nearby.

The next month the family found two larger mounds to its side. On January 20, sister Diana Hiskey woke up to find a huge amount of waste piled directly on top of the cross and personalised license plate left in Adam’s honour.

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Miss Hiskey said: “I was shaking when I saw it. I was so shocked someone would do it again. It is very close to my mum and dad’s house. You can see it from their window.

“I feel a mixture of sadness and anger. It is heartless and heartbreaking to see. It is disgusting.

“They have snapped the cross in half, which had never been removed in 16 years. I will not be defeated by them. I will put it back.”

The 35 year-old single mother found ten wooden doors, a fridge and a microwave in the pile, along with a number of black bags.

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She said: “I think they should be prosecuted. Maybe they should have to clean it up themselves.

“The council have been amazing. They have cleared it up every time, but it’s happening everywhere.”

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Adam Hiskey

In recent weeks plans for fixed penalty notices of up to £400 for homeowners who do not properly dispose of their waste have been circulated, and may soon be written into law.

If someone allows an unauthorised person to take their rubbish and it is tipped, they could pay the price.

Councillor Will Breare-Hall, environment portfolio holder for Epping Forest District Council, welcomed the proposals and said it could help to stop dumps like the one on Adam’s memorial.

He said: “The short answer is that we would hope that the introduction of a new Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) for household duty of care offences for fly-tipping would lead to a reduction in the amount of fly tipping in the Epping Forest district.

“The longer answer is that the proposal for a new FPN would positively support the Cleaner Essex Group ‘Crime Not to Care’ campaign, of which EFDC is an active participant, encouraging householders and businesses to comply with their waste duty of care.”

Cllr Breare-Hall went on to say that such fines could fund other fly-tipping enforcement work, act as a greater deterrent and shift the moral responsibility for waste disposal.

The Conservative councillor added: “Epping Forest District Council recognises that fly-tipping is an ongoing problem across the district, and, indeed, the county and the country. The Council employs a team of Environment & Neighbourhood Officers who apply a range of measures to deter fly-tipping and prosecute offenders. Officers use CCTV to try and catch offenders but, in such a large district, coverage and equipment is very limited.

“However, the responsibility for stopping fly-tipping starts with householders and businesses. In the long term, if we all take responsibility for managing and disposing of our waste correctly we can tackle fly-tipping.

“It’s also import that we all recycle, reduce and reuse waste material to minimise the amount of waste we need to dispose of in the first place, and residents of Epping Forest benefit from an excellent door-step waste and recycling service to help them do this conveniently.”