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. 

The statistics are damning. Local authorities dealt with more than 1.15 million fly-tipping incidents in 2023-24, up 6% on the previous year. The Environment Agency now monitors 451 active illegal waste sites, up from 344. Most staggering: roughly one-fifth of waste produced in the country may be handled illegally, enough to fill Wembley Stadium 35 times over and more than 38 million tonnes are dumped illegally each year by organised groups also involved in drugs, firearms, money laundering and modern slavery. 

Government complacency 

The Countryside Alliance has long campaigned against illegal waste disposal. But when Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds responded to the House of Lords waste crime report in December, she largely rejected recommendations, instead listing what government claims to already be doing. 

The problem? It's patently not enough. Even where the government agrees on regulatory changes to waste carriers and permit exemptions, there's no timeline. Just vague promises about acting "as soon as parliamentary time allows." 

As our Chief Executive Tim Bonner noted: "It is particularly disappointing that the Secretary of State cannot give a commitment to introducing legislative changes which everyone agrees are necessary." 

The criminal reality 

Behind every site is a community living with the consequences, sleepless nights, health concerns from toxic smoke, plummeting property values and helplessness watching criminals destroy their environment whilst enforcement agencies crawl. 

Look at recent prosecutions. Marcus Hughes, already jailed for laundering £45 million, received a further 30 months for dumping more than 26,000 tonnes across 17 sites. Anthony Critchley admitted running an unpermitted waste site, telling the Environment Agency: "I take in lorryloads of s***, hardcore on the cheap, and that's how I survive." 

These are organised criminals making calculated business decisions. Right now, that calculation works in their favour. They make more money fly-tipping than they lose from fines. 

What must change 

• We need penalties that match the crime. Criminals must know the full force of law will make them financially liable and put them behind bars. 
• The Environment Agency needs proper resourcing to respond quickly. It's unacceptable that sites operate for seven years whilst the agency "investigates." We need action, not excuses. 
• Police must treat waste crime seriously as the organised criminality it is, linked to drugs and money laundering. 
• We must make legal disposal easier. Restrictions at local tips push residents towards illegal collectors. 
• The government must demonstrate real leadership by committing to legislative reform with clear timelines, providing adequate enforcement funding and prioritising rural crime with the attention it deserves. 

Our commitment 

The Countryside Alliance will continue pressing the government to act now. We won't be silent whilst criminal gangs profit from poisoning our countryside and Ministers offer nothing but warm words. 

The waste mountains at Kidlington and Over Farm aren't just eyesores. They're symbols of governmental failure and regulatory inadequacy. They're proof that organised criminals can operate with near impunity whilst those tasked with stopping them move at a bureaucratic pace. 

The countryside is not a dumping ground. It's time our government started acting like it believes that too.