Professional fly-tippers from Bromley and Orpington have been jailed for four years each after dumping rubbish across south London and north Kent.

Billy Smith, from Orpington, and James Rice, from Bromley, were both given lengthy custodial sentences at Maidstone Crown Court after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing at Medway Magistrates Court in September.

This Is Local London:

The pair fly-tipped in residential streets and parks

The court heard they were jointly responsible for a string of serious dumping incidents in Bromley, Sidcup, West Wickham, Keston, Sevenoaks, South Norwood and Tooting.

The two men would drive around in their tipper truck looking for homes that were being renovated.

They would then cold call the homeowner or the workers carrying out the refurbishments and offer to take away the waste for a competitive price.

TOP STORIES:

But instead of lawfully transporting it to a registered waste disposal site they would simply drive around the corner and dump it either in the street or in a local park - often they completely blocking country lanes.

On June 3 the two men approached builder Leonard Panxhy who was working on a property in Moring Road, Tooting.

He paid them to get rid of his waste before they drove onto Tooting common and dumped it. The resulting flytip measured 80 metres in length.

The pair were arrested by officers from Kent Police investigating serious flytipping incidents.

Last week Lavender Hill magistrates ordered Mr Panxhy to pay a total of £670 in fines and prosecution costs for his role.