A MAN who operated an illegal waste disposal facility near Cricklade has been handed a suspended prison sentence and ordered to pay costs and carry out community service.

Earlier this month, Robert Cooper, of Hicks Leaze Farm in Chelworth, pleaded guilty at Swindon Magistrates Court to running the facility without the necessary environmental permits between April-July 2014.

The 78-year-old was given a 12 week prison sentence suspended for 2 years, ordered to pay costs of £13,027.35 and do 200 hours of unpaid work.

Mr Howard McCann prosecuting, told the court how the Environment Agency started investigations following complaints from members of the public about the burning of material in December 2013 and the sheer number of lorries dumping waste on site from April 2014 onwards.

Environment Agency officers visited the site and witnessed large quantities of waste including four large mounds of construction and demolition waste.

They observed the burning of waste with discarded empty containers labelled as ‘dangerous to the environment’.

One officer experienced a strong acrid smell which made him feel so unwell that he had to use a protective dust mask.

The officers saw what appeared to be leachate puddles in and around the burning waste and plasterboard, which cannot be disposed of to landfill with other biodegradable waste as it can produce toxic hydrogen sulphide gas.

Officers estimated a total of about 8,285 cubic metres of waste on the site, which was about the size of nine football pitches, where Mr McCann charged people up to £40 to dump their rubbish before he burned it.

EA officers also calculated that Mr Cooper could have made more than £23,000 from his illegal activities.

The court found that Mr Cooper’s actions were deliberate and that the environmental harm was localised due to the presence of plasterboard, chemical drums and leachate seen on site.

Steve Clare of the Environment Agency said: “It is very disappointing that Mr Cooper continued to allow the operation of an illegal site despite his previous convictions.

“The net is closing in on people who think they can make easy money undercutting legitimate waste businesses by putting the local environment at risk.

“We are constantly gathering information on illegal waste sites, criminal activities and environmental crime in Wiltshire and across the south east.

“We are taking a zero tolerance approach against offenders. In cases like this where individuals consistently operate illegally, we have absolutely no hesitation in prosecuting them as we want to make sure that waste crime doesn’t pay.

“This extends to landowners and their agents who fail to take steps to prevent such offences once they are made aware of them.”