An Islington takeaway was left with a bill of almost £3,000 after staff twice crossed the street and dumped rubbish over the border in Hackney.

Cukorova in Green Lanes was prosecuted twice in two months over the fly-tipping.

At Thames Magistrates’ court in June the company was given a £500 fine and ordered to pay another £500 in costs.

Bosses had failed to respond to Hackney Council’s numerous attempts to communicate and the restaurant was again hauled in front of magistrates on August 11 after more rubbish was found further down the road, again across the border in Hackney.

This time it was fined £1,000 and told to cough up £820 in costs.

It is not known whether the takeaway’s actions were motivated by civic pride, or by a specific vendetta against Hackney.

The council’s community safety boss Cllr Caroline Selman said: “This business owner thought they could save a few pounds by taking their rubbish across the road in the hope that someone else would deal with the problem.

“Local authorities spend a lot of money keeping streets clean, but we need businesses to do their part by arranging to have their rubbish and recycling collected by their council or a licensed waste carrier.”

Anyone can report fly-tipping in Hackney using the Love Clean Hackney mobile app.