Ten thousand tonnes of rubbish tower over Oxfordshire countryside near Kidlington – a monument to industrial-scale waste crime and government complacency.

These illegal waste disposal sites are hiding in plain sight. They’re there. The locals know about them. Yet the response from those with power to act has been glacially slow at best, and non-existent at worst.

Take the site near Over Farm in Gloucestershire, potentially even larger than Kidlington. Smoke has spread across a family farm for seven years. Highnam parish council alerted the Environment Agency more than five years ago. What’s happened? Nothing. They’ve now resorted to complaining directly to the agency’s chief executive in desperation.

The Environment Agency keeps saying they’re investigating. It’s simply not good enough. It’s becoming a fire hazard, impacting local wildlife and communities who must live with the stench, smoke, and knowledge that organised criminals operate with impunity.

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