Illegal landfill site operator fined £50,000

The owner of an unauthorised landfill site has been fined £50,000 after the Environment Agency branded the operation as damaging and "financially motivated".

Located in Northwich, the site was operated by ATA, a firm based in Stockport and regularly received waste from construction and demolition projects.

Its owners intended to level out the ground with the waste and eventually construct a polo pitch on the site, the Chester Magistrates' Court was informed.

The fine was the maximum penalty the owners could have possibly have received and was accompanied by £18,372.92 in charges.

Lex Massey, an environment officer, declared: "This was a large-scale unlicensed landfill operation. The offence was deliberate and financially motivated, with no regard for the environmental protection legislation."

In February 2008, the operator of one of the largest-scale illegal landfill sites ever in the UK was fined £1.2 million by Exeter Crown Court after admitting to unlawfully dumping millions of tonnes of waste.