Crime gang is blamed for Britain’s biggest ever fly tip – a 500ft-long rubbish mountain that will cost more than council’s entire annual budget to clean up

A crime gang could be behind one of Britain’s biggest ever flytipping incidents which has seen a 500ft-long pile of waste dumped in Oxfordshire.

The cost of removing the 50ft-wide, 30ft-high mountain could be more than the entire annual budget of the local council. 

The pile of rubbish, which has been dumped illegally, appeared just metres from the river Cherwell next to the A34 near Kidlington and is thought to weigh hundreds of tonnes.

It is believed the waste was dumped in one go and it has since been described by an MP as ‘threatening an environmental disaster’.

It was discovered last month by horrified anglers and contains shredded plastic, foam and wood mixed together with what appears to be earth. It is not known exactly when the mountain appeared.

Some of the rubbish has fallen down because it was so tall, which has left the waste just five metres from the river. 

Now experts are pointing the finger at an unidentified crime gang after a spate of flytipping incidents that have been traced back to criminal networks. 

Charity Friends of the Thames said the illegal rubbish dump was created by an organised crime group.

The 500ft-long dump has been described as one of the biggest fly tips ever seen in Britain

The pile of hazardous rubbish was illegally dumped in a field next to the A34 and River Cherwell near Kidlington in Oxfordshire

It said no visible containment or mitigation measures appear to be in place.

The charity’s chief executive, Laura Reineke, said: ‘This is an environmental catastrophe unfolding in plain sight.

‘A mountain of waste has been allowed to build up just metres from the river Cherwell – an illegal landfill sitting on the floodplain of one of our most important waterways.

‘Every day that passes increases the risk of toxic run-off entering the river system, poisoning wildlife and threatening the health of the entire catchment.

‘The Environment Agency must act now, not in months or years – which is their usual reaction time. This is exactly what happens when environmental crime is ignored – and it’s our rivers, wildlife, and communities that pay the price.’

The Environment Agency has obtained a court order to close the site to all public access for at least six months. 

In a report released last month, the Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee warned that organised crime gangs are illegally dumping millions of tonnes of waste across the countryside every year.

The committee identified incompetence at the Environment Agency as a factor in the growing crisis.

But Philip Duffy, the agency’s chief executive, hit back, and said: ‘I think it’s very unfair on my hardworking staff to be accused of incompetence.’

Experts are pointing the finger at an unidentified crime gang after a spate of flytipping incidents that have been traced back to criminal networks

Much of the waste appears to have been shredded and mixed up with earth

Calum Miller, Liberal Democrat MP for Bicester and Woodstock, raised the issue in Parliament, telling MPs: ‘Criminals have dumped a mountain of illegal waste weighing hundreds of tonnes in my constituency on a floodplain adjacent to the river Cherwell.

‘The Environment Agency said it has limited resources for enforcement.

‘The estimated cost of removal is greater than the entire annual budget of the local district council.’

Anya Gleizer, a geography researcher at Oxford University, said the dump poses an ‘environmental and health emergency’.

‘What we have on our hands, right now, is an environmental and health emergency that threatens not only the Cherwell river and its ecosystem, but also poses a direct risk to us: the communities living downstream from the dump-site,’ she said.

‘As an ecologist, river guardian, rower but also, more simply, as a mother of a child that enjoys splashing about and fishing for aquatic invertebrates, I have to emphasise that this crime has more far-reaching consequences.’

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: ‘Specialist officers are investigating waste dumped near the A34 at Kidlington. Their role will be to find who left the waste there and take appropriate action.

‘We share the public’s anger about incidents like this, which is why we take action against those responsible for waste crime. Anyone with information about this incident, or if they suspect waste crime elsewhere, can call the Environment Agency’s 24-hour incident hotline: 0800 807060.’