Illegal dump clear-up expected to cost £240k

The clear-up of more than 200 tonnes of illegally dumped waste is expected to cost about £238,000.

Gloucester City Council was first made aware of the site at Severnside Farm, near St Oswald's Retail Park, Gloucester, in early 2026 and the land was secured by the council, the Environment Agency, and police.

But, in July, the removal operation, which has so far cost £38,000, was halted after asbestos was found. Council leader Jeremy Hilton said the safe disposal of what was left might cost an additional £200,000.

Hilton said the council had written to the prime minister and urged the government to provide financial support to complete the clearance.

In August, Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced three of the country's worst illegal dumps would be cleaned up using taxpayers' money.

Fines for waste offences will also rise from £300 to £5,000, and the Environment Agency will have more powers to seize assets bought with the proceeds of crime by those involved.

Hilton said: "We've written to the prime minister because he, in a YouTube video, mentioned that he was determined to stamp out this sort of illegal practice and provide assistance where the government could.

"We've written to him and said that this is likely to cost the city council an extra £200,000 to remove all the waste safely, particularly the asbestos."

Hilton said it had taken the council "time to get everything legally right so we could go in there without any challenge and secure the site".

About 75 tonnes of waste had been removed from the site before asbestos was found, he said.

"What's been coming in is not in the car boot or something like that, it's lorries coming in and [the land is] being accessed through Severnside Farm," Hilton said.

"It's been dumped on somebody else's land and they've been powerless to stop it."

In his letter, Hilton also requested support from national agencies, including the National Crime Agency, to help identify and prosecute those behind the waste dumping.

Speaking on behalf of the government, a spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: "We know how much damage illegal waste sites have on communities.

"We have used a consistent set of criteria to identify the highest-risk sites right now, but that doesn't mean everywhere else is being ignored.

"Cleaning up sites is just one part of the system change, as we are strengthening our intelligence and analysis capability to tackle waste crime with stronger enforcement powers and more officers on the frontline."

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