Jeff Skinner Skip Hire Limited was also ordered to pay £614.05p costs and a £15 victim surcharge by Leeds magistrates.

The firm was taken to court by Leeds City Council after its enforcement officers spotted trucks with the company's livery unloading on wasteland owned by the Halton Moor Hotel.

Derek Hallam, for the council, said the pub's owner had written to the firm asking it to provide wood for its annual November 5 bonfire last year.

Over a number of days from October 4 waste wood was brought to a patch of waste ground at the side of the pub in Rathmell Road, Halton Moor.

By the time officers took photographs of the pile on October 9 there was an estimated 50 tons of waste on the land, including laminated and treated wood, sofas, tyres, metal, plastic, glass including mirrors and even a hoover.

Officers were so concerned they called in an environmental specialist to assess the risk to residents.

Mr Hallam said: "The concern was that the wood was there so long before Bonfire Night and that there was a considerable amount of other waste there which if burned would cause harm to the environment."

John Bodnar, defending, said as soon as the family-run firm was contacted by the council it offered to remove the rubbish but the pub proprietor refused to let them take it away. He said at that time of year people started to pile wood up for bonfires which, by the strict letter of the law, was fly-tipping.

Mr Bodnar said: "That immediately causes a problem for tens of thousands of people throughout the land. It doesn't matter if you're Jeff Skinner Skip Hire or little Johnny down the road, you're committing an offence."

He said the council had issued a press release which said some leniency would be shown in the lead up to Bonfire Night.

Mr Bodnar added: "It's an offence to do it but here's the council saying it's ok a few days before Bonfire Night. It's a haphazard statement of enforcement."

He said the firm had an excellent track record and was only trying to help the community.

Jeff Skinner, 38, of Bradford Road, Tong, pleaded guilty on behalf of the company to illegally dumping waste on the land .

Chairman of the Bench Ruth Heatley said it was accepted the firm was a reputable company with no previous offences and that it was not responsible for all the dumping.

But she said the firm had a duty of care and imposed the fine and costs.