The rubbish tip, found just off the A34 in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, has caused local outrage and could cost up to £10 million for the Environment Agency to remove
Britain’s biggest fly tip is a mammoth 500ft long mountain of waste that has been building up in one of the UK’s most verdant countrysides.
The illegal tip, found just off the A34 in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, is the ugly manifestation of years of dumping, with up to 21,000 tonnes of waste infuriating locals, who have called in the Environment Agency (EA) to extract the lot. The agency has said in a statement that it shares the local anger, branding it “an atrocious and deliberate attack on our environment”.
Horrifying pictures show the imposing nature of the rubbish pile from up close, including what looks like a river of trash and huge piles scattered next to otherwise pristine countryside.
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The EA has estimated the massive amount of rubbish could cost up to £10 million to clear, with Emma Viner, the agency’s enforcement and investigations manager, saying it would look to recover clearance costs from anyone prosecuted for the tip once it has concluded its ongoing investigation.
Ms Viner said: “The illegal dump at Kidlington was an atrocious and deliberate attack on our environment and the Environment Agency shares the community’s anger at this horrific crime.
“The government is committed to stamping out this type of criminality across the country, by boosting funds to tackle waste crime, hiring more officers and introducing tougher checks and penalties for those who break the law.” Two men – a 69-year-old and 54-year-old – have so far been arrested in Andover, Hampshire and Slough repsectively in connection with the dump.
