Farmer facing £350,000 clean-up bill as crime gang fly-tips 2000 tonnes of rubbish

Alex Sell, a fifth-generation livestock and arable farmer, said his family was devastated to learn they were legally obliged to pay the clear-up costs.

He said: “Seeing all that rubbish felt like a huge punch in the gut – it’s devastating.

“I think it’s a completely unfair situation.

“Organised criminal gangs are wreaking havoc on the countryside, causing great damage to the environment, and getting away with it, while the victims are left with huge clear-up costs.”

The piles of rubbish were dumped on a 16-acre field off Arterial Road, North Stifford, near Greys, Essex.

The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) said the rubbish had been ground and processed before being dumped on Mr Sell’s property.

The farmer said he believes the gang was paid to fly-tip the rubbish to avoid landfill tax.

Mr Sell’s family-run farm has operated since 1894. He runs a mixed beef, sheep, and arable farm with his wife Gemma, brother Ben, and uncle Jonathan.

He said: “The quotes I’ve been getting to clear the rubbish are in the region of £350,000.

“I believe our insurance will cover that, but we will be paying it off in premiums for the next 20 years.”

The farmer noted that 200 tonnes of maize silage, used to feed animals, had “potentially been ruined”, resulting in a “major impact on what we can grow on here next year”.

He added: “Dealing with it all has been time-consuming and stressful during what has already been a very challenging year for farming.

“We are just trying to make a living, producing food for people.

“We are renting much of our land, and every acre must pay for itself.”

Mr Sells said fly-tipping was now happening regularly in Essex and on a “huge scale”.

He noted that when he first contacted the police, they referred him to the Environment Agency, which then referred him back to the police.

“The gangs responsible for these huge fly-tips must be treated like drug gangs. They are causing so much damage to the environment, the countryside, our livelihoods and our ability to produce food for the nation, and they are making fortunes doing it,” he said.

NFU Vice-President Robyn Munt said fly-tipping was a “travesty of justice” as the union continues to “push for change at all levels of government”.

She said: “This case in Essex is another awful example of the severe impact of fly-tipping. This is not an isolated incident. Fly-tipping is completely out of control.

“Fly-tipping must be the only crime where the victims become criminals if they do not put right the crime that has been done to them and pay the huge fees to clear up the mess.

“Waste crime is costing the farming industry tens of millions of pounds in clear-up costs every year, damaging the environment, harming wildlife, scarring the countryside and preventing farmers from producing food.”

Cllr Russell Cherry, Cabinet Member for Veterans, Enforcement and Environment, said: “Fly-tipping is a selfish and disgusting crime that causes blight in the borough and impacts the lives of residents living in the areas targeted by fly-tippers and of businesses operating in areas that fly-tipping takes place.

“While I have every sympathy for Mr Sell, who is a victim of what sounds like an organised, industrial sized fly-tip, Thurrock Council are not responsible for clearing fly-tips on private land. Under the law the council is only responsible for fly-tips on council owned land.

“Thurrock Council clears and investigates all fly-tips that take place on council owned land. Where evidence is found enforcement action, including issuing fixed penalty notices, takes place.

“When appropriate the council will seize vehicles that have been used for fly-tipping. The council urges anyone who sees fly-tipped waste to report it to us straight away.”