A TAKEAWAY owner who dumped rubbish down the same M61 embankment for almost two-and-a-half years was caught by secret spy cameras installed by environmental enforcement officers.

Abdul Kaium made regular weekly trips to Junction 5 of the M61 near Westhoughton to offload his waste.

But he was trapped by secret spy cameras set up by Bolton Council enforcement officers as part of an undercover operation.

Kaium on Tuesday narrowly escaped a jail term and was sentenced to 240 hours of community service by magistrates in Bolton.

It cost the authorities £20,000 to clear up the rubbish.

Magistrate Gillian Knowles said: "This is a very serious offence - a series of very serious offences and you've missed going to prison today by the skin of your teeth.

"You have put the health of all local residents at risk and adversely affected local wildlife, causing considerable environmental damage."

Magistrates heard how, when questioned about the offences, Kaium, of Garforth Street, Chadderton, in Oldham, admitted he had been tipping waste at the embankment since March, 2003.

Kaium, who has since sold his takeaway business, pleaded guilty to 11 offences under the Environmental Protection Act.

His solicitor, Mike Talbot, told magistrates he had run the business for six years and was under pressure as the takeaway was losing money.

He used to dispose of his waste at the correct site in Oldham, but stopped and began his fly-tipping spree.

The court heard how Kaium repeatedly stopped on the slip road at Junction Five at Westhoughton and unloaded large quantities of waste food, cardboard and commercial packaging.

Investigators established the rubbish was being left at weekends after 10 instances of waste being dumped in the same place. They traced it to Kaium's Wigan takeaway after scraps of paper among the waste led them there.

One Saturday night in August last year, three council enforcement officers kept watch on 44-year-old Kaium's shop. They alerted fellow officer, Andrew Bolan and a colleague, who were hidden near the dumping spot, when they saw Kaium loading rubbish bags into his car.

When he arrived at the slip road, a spy camera strapped to a lampost recorded him stopping on the hard shoulder and throwing waste down the embankment.

A police officer waiting nearby then stopped Kaium's car two miles down the road. When confronted father of five Kaium admitted he had been illegally dumping rubbish at the spot since March, 2003.

It is believed to be the first time in the country that covert surveillance on the motorway has been carried out by anyone other than police. The slip road had to be closed to traffic for more than two hours each time as the camera was installed and removed.

Speaking after the hearing Andrew Bolan, now manager of the environmental services unit, said he was pleased with the sentence.

He added: "If we hadn't stopped him this would have been a problem which would have been going on to this day. This sends out a strong message to anyone considering participating in illegal fly tipping."

John Mather from the Highways Agency said they are now considering taking steps to recover the £20,000 cost of cleaning up Kaiums rubbish.

Cllr Roger Hayes, Bolton Council's executive member for the environment, said: "I am pleased the outcome has resulted in a conviction.

"Incidents of this nature are taken very seriously. In this case there was cooperation between different agencies.

"This case shows that where we can identify people fly-tipping and prosecute them we will take action."