Justice for landowners as police carry out dawn raids on fly-tippers

Yesterday morning (20 April), the police and Environment Agency carried out 5 dawn raids in Staffordshire, Herefordshire and Hertfordshire to catch the fly-tippers.

Two people were arrested after an in-depth investigation into waste dumping across the Midlands, North West and North East.

Paul Clarke, lead investigator in the Environment Agency’s National Investigation Team, said: “The Environment Agency takes waste crime seriously and we will persistently pursue those suspected of illegally dumping waste.

Fire

“In this case, we have 17 landowners and communities blighted by significant amounts of dumped waste. We have already seen some of these sites catch fire, causing significant impact on communities, the environment and our emergency services partners who have to tackle them.

“Illegal waste activity of the likes we are investigating here diverts £1 billion from legitimate businesses and the Treasury.”

More than 25 Environment Agency investigators and 20 police officers took part in the raids to find evidence.

The investigation is set to continue for ‘many more months’ with the evidence seized.

Anyone with information about the case should contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.