A woman was fined over £1,000 after her car leaked oil while parked.
Lisa Holmes, from Chiselhurst, was prosecuted for the damage the oil caused while parked.
Council workers addressed Ms Holmes’ after the ‘enforcement team’ spotted that the car parked outside her home was found to be leaking.
Bromley Council wrote to Ms Holmes in August requesting her to fix the problem.
However, nothing was done to resolve the issue and enforcement officers from the council went round to her home in December and told her she was being prosecuted under the Highways Acts for ‘depositing oil’.
Ms Holmes was convicted in her absence at Bexley Magistrates Court last Monday (Mar 26) and fined £440, as well as being ordered to pay £615 in court costs and a £44 victim surcharge – a total of £1,099.
The prosecution was brought under Section 161(1) of the Highways Act 1980, with the defendant charged “without lawful authority or excuse, depositing oil or allowing oil to be deposited from a motor vehicle on the highway thereby endangering users of the highway.”
A spokesman for Bromley Council said last week: “A Chislehurst resident has been prosecuted and told to pay a total of almost £1,100 after being found guilty of depositing engine oil on the highway.
“Lisa Holmes was fined £440 plus £44 surcharge and ordered to pay £615 costs in her absence at Bexley Magistrates Court on Monday. “The prosecution followed an investigation last summer, in July, which concluded that oil found on the road was coming from a parked car owned by the defendant.
“Although the council’s enforcement team wrote to the defendant in August, the matter was still not resolved when officers visited her (at home) in December 2017, approximately 5 months later from the initial investigation.
“Apart from the potential danger to others and the environment, oil can actually damage the road surface, with the council then incurring significant costs to rectify it, with the oily patches also being unsightly.
“This was a serious matter – prosecution is a last resort and we completely accept that from time to time, oil will be accidentally leaked from cars.
“On these occasions, we expect motorists to do what they can to clean the affected area and to let us know but after some months of inaction, with the problem not resolved, we had no option but to prosecute.”
