THE owner of Tropiquaria Zoo has criticised West Somerset Council for failing to pursue a case of illegal fly-tipping after clinical waste was dumped in one of the zoo bins - complete with a name and address attached.

Zoo director Chris Moiser had hoped the contact details would ensure a successful prosecution or at least a caution but said he was horrified when his letters to the council were ignored and no action was taken.

He claimed he had been told the label was not enough evidence to warrant pursuing the case and that the authority would need video evidence of the waste being dumped to secure a conviction.

A spokesman for West Somerset Council said the authority was always keen to pursue fly-tippers but in this case the council's solicitors had advised there was insufficient evidence to secure a conviction.

Mr Moiser said: "If they had interviewed the person at the address they might at least have been able to give them a warning or discover if the waste had been disposed of legitimately or if someone had got rid of it illegally.

"I am very disappointed that what appeared to have been a very clear cut case and one that involved clinical waste was not proceeded with in any way and the person living at the address was not even interviewed."

Mr Moiser first contacted the authority in July following the discovery of both medical and industrial waste in a 1,100 litre waste bin.

An officer immediately visited the zoo to investigate, but from there the trail went cold.

Despite initially seeming keen to pursue the fly-tipper, Mr Moiser said he heard nothing back from the authority and was then told no action would be taken when he telephoned the officer around a month later.

"As a zoo we take our environmental responsibilities very seriously, we also pay a considerable amount to have our rubbish removed.

"In my experience it is rare to find such strong evidence of this offence and to miss the chance of a potentially high profile case which could put out a message about fly-tipping not being tolerated is very sad," Mr Moiser said in a letter to the council in August.

But Steve Watts, the council's environment and community manager, wrote back at the end of August to tell him there had been a "misunderstanding".

"We do intend to progress this issue if it is possible, although I accept there has been a delay in communicating this fact back to you.

"This council is closely involved with working with the Somerset Waste Partnership and Somerset County Council to achieve successful prosecutions for fly-tipping and they are currently considering a range of measures such as purchasing covert cameras, a legal 'fighting fund' and a PR campaign," Mr Watts said.

Mr Moiser said there had been no misunderstanding on his behalf and said he had initially be buoyed to receive Mr Watts' letter,

But over a month later he had heard nothing and wrote to the council again at the beginning of October.

After getting no answer from the district council, Mr Moiser - a former criminal solicitor well versed in the law - decided to contact the person named on the address label himself.

Although the resident said he had no idea how the waste came to be dumped in Tropiquaria's bin, he did pay Mr Moiser a small amount of compensation to cover the costs he had incurred in disposing of it.

Mr Moiser said: "If I was able to contact this person I see no reason why the council could not have done exactly the same thing.

"I told them I was happy to go to court. The law on this issue really isn't complicated and I'm extremely angry they just didn't seem bothered."

He said West Somerset Council had an "appalling" record when it came to prosecuting people for fly-tipping having never issued a single caution or ever taken anyone to court for the crime.

In contrast, Taunton Deane Borough Council had made six prosecutions and issued seven cautions, North Somerset had 16 prosecutions under its belt and nine cautions and Sedgemoor had one prosecution and 43 cautions to date.

Bruce Lang, West Somerset Council's corporate director, said the council remained keen to take action against fly-tippers.

"In this particular instance, the council gathered as much evidence as it could and then took legal advice on whether to pursue the matter and were informed that there was not a sufficient evidence trail to enable a successful prosecution.

"The council is working closely with other local authorities in the county to compile a harmonised approach to tackle fly-tipping to increase effectiveness in prevention and prosecution in the future," Mr Lang said.

Photo: Ian Beech Images