A PICK-UP truck used by a prolific fly-tipper has been sent to the wreckers' yard.

Leslie Price, of Somerset Road, West Ealing, was jailed for 12 months this summer after he admitted 12 charges of dumping rubbish at sites in Richmond and surrounding boroughs.

The 42-year-old was also ordered to forfeit his vehicle for destruction when he was sentenced at Isleworth Crown Court on June 1.

His brother, Leonard Price, of Wyatt Close, Birmingham, who worked with him, was ordered to carry out 200 hours of community service after admitting helping Leslie on five occasions.

The truck was finally consigned to history last Friday (November 19), when it was crushed at a wreckers' yard near Heathrow.

Councillor Virginia Morris, Richmond's cabinet member for environment, said: "We are happy to have brought a complete end to these brothers' illegal and antisocial business.

"Now we have put their van out of action they will be forced to think twice before ripping people off and creating a mess in our streets in the future. The Price brothers are responsible for some of the worst fly-tips south-west London has ever seen and I'm delighted they were given tough sentences by the judge."

Between June and November last year, the brothers, trading as Skippy's Rubbish Clearance, approached businesses and householders offering to dispose of their waste at up to £130 a time.

Customers had no idea the rubbish was being dumped across London, leaving local authorities to pick up the bill.

Leslie Price admitted 12 offences – two in Richmond, six in Ealing, three in Hillingdon and one in Merton. As well as a prison sentence he was given an ASBO banning him from re-entering the waste industry without an appropriate licence for five years.

The two offences in Richmond took place in Fitzwilliam Avenue, Richmond, and North Road, Richmond, in September. They were both witnessed by passers-by, who identified the truck.

South Richmond Safer Neighbourhood Team and the council's Street Scene Enforcement (SSE) officers helped bring the brothers to justice.

Anyone witnessing fly-tipping in Richmond can call the council's SSE team on 0845 6122 660.