Fairhead in Archers style saga

AXED as BBC Trust chairman by Theresa May, Rona Fairhead is not the only one facing work troubles.

Her businessman husband Tom has seen his plans to open a huge waste centre in rural Essex scotched by the Environment Agency.

The saga — which pitted Tom, boss of Gent Fairhead, against local activists — mirrored a plotline in The Archers, which saw David and Ruth Archer fighting opponents of their plans to build an anaerobic digester at Home Farm.

The Environment Agency has told Gent Fairhead it must build a taller extractor chimney of up to 400ft at the RAF Rivenhall site, a disused airfield near Braintree. A company spokesman says: ‘The Environment Agency’s decision and its timing is very disappointing. We are considering options.’