Company helps clear fly-tip after death threats

A family business said it received death threats when a company of the same name fly-tipped on land more than 100 miles away.

George Locke, of GL Property Maintenance in Cheltenham, said his mother was in "absolute hysterics" trying to explain herself to angry callers after Double H Nurseries in Hampshire posted a CCTV still online of fly-tipping on their land.

Staff from the Cheltenham company travelled to New Milton in Hampshire to help clear the waste on Friday to "make something positive" out of a "horrible time".

Andy Burton, managing director of Double H Nurseries, amended the post after Locke contacted him, and said it was "really good" of the family to help dispose of the waste.

Locke said he was completely unaware of the situation until he called his mother in the office.

"It was quite quiet and when she started to talk, I could realise she was in absolute hysterics," Locke said.

"She said, 'There's been an article posted and I keep receiving calls of people abusing me and threats and other emails are coming through from the website'."

An article about the fly-tipping had been published by a national news website, and Locke said during one call his mother had been accused of "turning on the waterworks" by an angry member of the public who did not believe her.

The current version of the article acknowledges that the firm with the same name is not suggested to be involved in wrongdoing or be affiliated with the people who left the waste.

Locke claimed people in the comments on one Facebook post about the incident had given out his parent's home address, and his dad received "threats of people coming to the house to beat him up".

New Forest District Council said when waste is dumped on land it is the responsibility of the landowner to clear it.

Locke contacted Burton at Double H Nurseries to address the situation, and said, if a skip was arranged, he and his family would come to Hampshire to help them fill it with the deposited armchairs, sofas, and electrical appliances.

Burton turned off the comments on the online post after Locke contacted him, as he said it was "unfortunate" GL Property Maintenance had the same name as the logo on the van.

"I think the frustration is that, you know, we're all trying to run a business or run businesses and doing our own thing and just, it's tough for all businesses at the moment," Burton said of the fly-tipping.

"Fly-tipping causes us disruption in cost, but it also had a negative impact on their business as well and they've got nothing to do with it."

GL Property Maintenance staff arrived in Hampshire to clear the waste at 08:30 BST on Friday, and Locke said Double H Nurseries were "really, really fantastic guys".

"We all chipped in together as a team and filled up a skip, stood around and had a laugh like we'd been mates for a long time," he said.

New Forest District Council said officers from its environmental enforcement team are investigating the incident.

The BBC contacted the number on the side of the van seen on the CCTV footage but nobody responded to a request for comment.

Two other companies of the same name were found on Companies House - one based in East Sussex dissolved in 2013, while another based in Cardiff dissolved in 2022.

Follow BBC Gloucestershire on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.