On Friday the council was fined £20,000 at the town’s Magistrate’s Court for 11 breaches of the legislation at its dump site in Newtownstewart.

In a statement afterwards the council said it regretted that the process for securing a licence for the site in question has ended up in court with resultant fines.

The council said however it was confident there had been no pollution at the Newtownstewart facility and it had received no complaints about the site.

“Council has been trying to secure planning permission for the site for four years. Our application has failed to progress despite our best efforts professionally and politically.

“Officers have been contacting the planning service on an ongoing basis and we have written to the Environment Minister twice and tabled a question at Stormont.

“This delay in the planning application has equated with a delay in securing a licence with the Northern Ireland Environment Agency.

The council said it was unfortunate both agencies could not have co-operated more and taken cognisance of the delay in planning, particularly as they are both under the auspices of one government department.

The statement concluded: “The delay in planning was beyond our control and the fines are entirely regrettable.

“We are confident that this facility does not cause a nuisance; there has been no pollution and we have received no complaints about the site.

“We will continue to operate out of this site on a temporary basis until another waste transfer site is identified with the planners.

“The only other option would be to purchase additional refuse vehicles and to transfer waste directly to another location in the east of the Province.

“This would be at a huge cost to the ratepayer.”