Officers from the Environment Agency and HMRC visited more than 50 suspected illegal waste sites across the East of England in a single day, confirming illegal activity at more than two dozen sites across Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire and Leicestershire.
Officers found:
Among the rubbish, officers observed shredded plastics, soil, rubble, scrap metal, tyres, pallets, and at one site, a number of discarded toilets.
Some of the sites contained overflowing skips and more than 5,000 tonnes of waste being stored illegally.
A total of 54 sites were visited by officers, of which half were found to be operating within the law. Those that weren't will receive written guidance from the Environment Agency clarifying the steps they must take, and follow-up visits will be arranged to make sure the site operators comply.
Pete Stark, Environment Agency Enforcement team leader, said "we will be following up on every single site where we've found illegal activity so we can put a stop to activities that blight our neighbourhoods, our environment and our economy".
"Working closely with HMRC to investigate these reports from local communities has helped us strengthen our working relationship, identify sites of interest, and prevent and disrupt crime that puts people, wildlife and legitimate businesses at risk".
Evidence gathered from the visits will be used against those breaking the law followed by further enforcement action. This could include working with local authorities, the police, and HMRC to prevent and disrupt crime, the serving of notices to have waste removed from land, and prosecution of offenders.
If convicted of illegal waste activity, offenders face unlimited fines and up to five years in prison.
Illegal waste activity is estimated to have cost more than £600 million in 2015 in England alone, but the Environment Agency has been tackling waste crime, with more than 5,400 stopped between 2011 and 2017 and an average of two sites being shut down everyday.
