A BRADFORD-BASED luxury fashion retailer has been fined £5,000 for fly-tipping around 30 bags of rubbish at a city centre apartment block.

Janan Ltd, which boasts the phrase ‘Love Fashion, Love Janan’ on its website and the side of its vehicles, admitted dumping the commercial waste at Stonegate House, on Stone Street, Bradford, on May 5 last year.

It said staff had tried to “cut corners” by depositing the rubbish illegally rather than taking it to the tip.

Aneeka Sarwar, prosecuting on behalf of Bradford Council, told Bradford and Keighley Magistrates’ Court that two men had dumped the black bin bags full of waste after unloading them from a Mercedes Sprinter van belonging to the company.

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It is understood the rubbish came from Café Janan, which the company states was opened in August 2011 alongside its fashion boutique.

The court heard that a resident in one of the apartments at Stonegate House had seen and taken pictures of two men unloading bags from the van and putting them into the bin store at the property, which is for residents only.

The rest of the rubbish was dumped on the side of the road.

The information was passed to the caretaker and manager of the building, who confirmed that no permission had been given allowing the company to deposit waste at the site.

When interviewed on August 28 last year, a manager from Janan admitted that two employees had been given “some form of instruction” to take the bags of rubbish to the bins.

“They were aware they were putting commercial waste into the household waste system,” said Miss Sarwar.

Wasim Qureshi, who described himself as a shop manager for the company, appeared in court on the firm’s behalf to speak to magistrates.

He pleaded guilty to the charge of depositing controlled waste without an environmental permit.

When asked to confirm Janan Ltd’s annual turnover, he said did not know as he was just a shop manager and didn’t deal with accounts.

After making a phone call while in the dock, he then told the court the figure was £700,000.

Referring to the fly-tipping, he said the employees had been told to take the rubbish to a legitimate tip, but had “cut corners” and dropped the bags on the Stone Street site.

“It was totally wrong on our behalf,” he said. “We’re really sorry, it won’t happen again.”

When asked what measures had been put in place to ensure the offence was not repeated, he said the company had acquired extra bins and now had a full waste disposal procedure, adding that staff were no longer allowed to take rubbish off the premises.

Alongside the £5,000 fine, the company was ordered to pay £716 costs and a £120 surcharge, to be paid in full within 28 days.