A COUNTY recycling plant has been fined more than £20,000 after it left a neighbouring business repeatedly covered in dust and litter.

Hemswell firm AWS Eco Plastics constantly breached environmental regulations over a seven-month period in 2008 and last year, Lincoln Magistrates' Court heard.

AWS plastics in Hemswell Cliff.

Prosecutor Anne-Lise McDonald told the court an Environment Agency officer visiting in December 2008 described the mess as "looking like snow".

This included paper labels and dust from plastic bottles, recycled at the centre, blowing around its site and the nearby Hemswell Fencing, on the Caenby Corner Industrial Estate.

After further visits, the court heard the situation was still unresolved.

The court was told the material came from various sources, including a compactor, skip and silo on the site, which were not properly contained.

Mrs McDonald said the Environment Agency believed these incidents had a negative impact on the lawful activities of nearby businesses.

She said: "The owner of Hemswell Fencing first noticed in October and November 2008 that small bits of plastic were blowing into his site.

"He got told it would be sorted but nothing happened.

"He had to wash his car several times a week, sometimes more than once a day, because of the dust."

In mitigation, Jonathan Dunkley said AWS Eco Plastics hired two extra site managers to tackle the problems in April last year.

Mr Dunkley said this showed the company took such incidents very seriously and it had no intention of being back in court in the future.

Following a massive fire that destroyed the business in August last year, Mr Dunkley added the company had invested almost £1 million on a new system that it believed was better at disposing plastic waste.

AWS Eco Plastics managing director Jonathan Short, appearing before magistrates, pleaded guilty on the company's behalf to four charges of failing to meet environmental regulations.

Following 75 minutes of deliberations, magistrates handed out a £23,000 fine and ordered the business to pay £5,654.40 towards prosecution costs, plus a £15 victim surcharge.