Two males arrested over Britain’s biggest-ever fly-tip with 500 ft lengthy mountain of waste
Police have arrested two men in relation to a grotesque mountain of rubbish dumped in the Oxfordshire countryside The giant dumping ground weighs in at an estimated 21,000 tonnes
The dump is the largest fly-tip in British history(Image: Tom Wren / SWNS)
Two men have been arrested over the largest fly-tip in British history as mountains of rubbish have been found dumped in the countryside in what has been dubbed a potential “environmental disaster”.
The massive illegal rubbish tip found in Kidlington, Oxfordshire will cost the Environment Agency around £10million to clear. It is estimated a staggering 21,000 tonnes of waste are piled up at the site, a 500ft-long mountain of trash.
A 69-year-old man has been arrested at a home in Andover, Hampshire, in connection with the dump alongside a 54-year-old man who was arrested in Slough. The men face charges of environmental and money laundering offences relating to the huge illegal dumping ground.
An Environmental Agency spokesperson announced the arrests are part of a wider ongoing investigation surrounding the massive mountain of rubbish.
Emma Viner, enforcement and investigations manager for the EA’s national environmental crime unit, said the agency is looking to recover the clearance costs from anyone prosecuted for the illegal tip at the end of its current investigation.
Ms Viner said: “The illegal dump at Kidlington was an atrocious and deliberate attack on our environment and the Environment Agency shares the community’s anger at this horrific crime.
“The illegal dumping of waste at Kidlington is appalling and has caused significant damage to the environment and distress to the local community.
“The government is committed to stamping out this type of criminality across the country, by boosting funds to tackle waste crime, hiring more officers and introducing tougher checks and penalties for those who break the law.” Politicians have spoken out against the horrific mountain of waste dumped in Oxfordshire.
Back in November, Calum Miller, Liberal Democrat MP for Bicester and Woodstock, brought the issue to Parliament and said the river of rubbish was “threatening an environmental disaster”.
The MP also added Cherwell District Council had estimated the cost of removing the waste would be greater than its entire annual budget. The MP stated: “This is not a licensed waste site and we can just see the quantity of waste that has been dumped here, that’s illegal, so it’s criminal.” Miller dubbed has the mess as “pollution on a grotesque scale”.
Miller added “criminal gangs are dumping waste on this scale” across the country and called for government intervention to be made before pollutants “leech out” into local rivers.
Environmental groups have also sounded the alarm on the mass pollution left at the fly tipping site. Friends of the Thames have called the pollution criminal in nature as Chief executive Laura Reineke said: “This is an environmental catastrophe unfolding in plain sight. Every day that passes increases the risk of toxic run-off entering the river system, poisoning wildlife and threatening the health of the entire catchment.
“The Environment Agency must act now, not in months or years, which is their usual reaction time,” she added.
