Four arrested after major police operation over illegal waste dumping
Four men have been arrested following a major Environment Agency investigation into alleged illegal waste dumping .
An operation involving Lancashire Police has led to the arrest of four men over the alleged large scale illegal dumping of waste at a site in Wigan.
The Bolton House Road site has caused misery for locals who had to endure bad smells, while a week-long fire caused nearby schools to close last summer.
Officers from Lancashire, Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire Police worked alongside the Environment Agency to arrest the four men. The agency's National Environmental Crime Unit is leading the investigation.
The arrests included two men aged 41 and 35 from Wigan, a 24 year old man from Leeds and a 59 year old man from Liverpool. The men were arrested for environmental, fraud and money laundering offences.
The man from Leeds was also arrested over waste dumping at the Cave’s Inn Pits Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) near Shawell, Leicestershire.
Sue Longstone, director of operations for the north at the Environment Agency, said: “The illegal dumping at Bolton House Road and Cave’s Inn Pits are atrocious attacks on our communities, and we share the public’s utter disgust at these horrendous crimes.
“Our teams have been working relentlessly on these investigations, and our arrests are a vital step in collecting new evidence and progressing it further.”
Following the arrests, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said: “I have stood on Bolton House Road and seen what local people have had to live with.
“It is shocking – an ocean of rubbish piled up next to a primary school, and families unable to escape the smell in their own homes.
“This is not fly-tipping. This is organised crime, and it is local communities that are paying the price.
“For too long, this issue has been ignored. But not on my watch.
“Today’s action by the Environment Agency and the police is just the start of our plans. The days of making easy money from waste are over.”
The Government has announced it will directly fund the clean-up of the Bolton House Road site, whose entrance has been blocked with concrete blocks by the local authority to prevent any more additional waste being dumped illegally.
Wigan Council is looking to recruit a specialist contractor for the clear-up of the site.
Environment Secretary Dame Angela Eagle said: “The appalling dumping of waste at Bolton House Road and Cave’s Inn Pits represents a blatant disregard for local communities and the environment.”
She said tackling waste crime was one of her top priorities, and the Government was giving regulators and enforcement agencies the powers and resources they need to break up criminal operations and hold those responsible to account.