Fly-tipping gang return to fill warehouse
BRAZEN flytippers have dumped tonnes of industrial waste in the same warehouse for the second time in six months, with exasperated owners saying: “We are powerless to stop it.”
The tipping gang first targeted the building in Croydon, south London last year, filling it from floor to ceiling with hazardous building material.
The group arrived in caravans, broke into the warehouse and for five days allowed tradesmen, who obscured their registration plates, to dump truck loads of commercial waste for cash.
No action was taken by police or the Environment Agency and no suspects were caught.
Owners spent tens of thousands of pounds clearing the warehouse and
By Jon Austin
guarding it with concrete blocks, but the flytippers used vehicles to move one out of the way to regain entry.
According to sources, police witnessed some of the dumping on January 25. But they made no arrests, instead helping move on the group who had pitched up in caravans days earlier. Police say they were there to prevent a breach of the peace while the landowners moved the gang on.
But a source from the industrial estate said: “They are back doing the same thing and it seems everyone is powerless to stop it.
“The warehouse is filling up, but the police have just stood and watched it happening.” Another source added: “They demanded thousands of pounds from the owner or threatened to fill it up again. It’s extortion.”
Police have traditionally treated major commercial flytipping as an offence to be dealt with by councils or the Environment Agency. However, the Government has now recognised it is a major organised crime costing the UK economy at least £600million a year.
In 2020 the Joint Unit for Waste Crime, joining police, HMRC and other law enforcement with the EA, was set up to tackle the scourge.
A waste industry source said: “Until they get arrested on the spot they will feel untouchable and keep doing this, while the rest of us do it by the book.”