Burnham asks NCA to probe 'ocean of rubbish'

Large illegal waste dumps, such as one where a week-long fire burnt in Wigan last summer, could be linked to "serious criminal activity", according to Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham.

The site in Bickershaw caught fire with 25,000 tonnes of waste burnt, forcing schools to close nearby.

Similar mass fly-tips should be the focus of police efforts and investigators from the National Crime Agency (NCA) and Environment Agency, Burnham believes.

"It's clear to me that the issue isn't just random residents getting rid of some stuff... I think it is more linked to more serious criminal activity." he recently told a Greater Manchester Combined Authority meeting.

He added: "It strikes me as something to which both myself and the deputy mayor could refer to the chief constable at Greater Manchester Police to ask if more work can be done, from a cross-city region viewpoint to see the pattern of fly-tipping and the extent to which there is criminal activity underpinning what is being done."

He said the "ocean of rubbish" that emerged in Bickershaw was "clearly linked to much more serious criminal gang related activity and would be beyond the resources of Wigan council to deal with".

"We probably do need an intervention from the National Crime Agency, Environment Agency to deal with a problem on that scale."

A joint summit is planned between the fire service, Environment Agency, and GMP in the coming weeks, deputy mayor Kate Green said.

"In Wigan, there has been a significant fire and air quality risk. GMFRS does not have statutory powers but it would have been useful to respond," she added.

A clean-up operation is now under way on Bickershaw's Bolton House Road but attempts to remedy the nightmare dump have been hampered by arguments over who should pay for it.

Local Labour MP Josh Simons reportedly called on the King's estate, which owns some of the land, to stump up a portion of the £4.5m bill.

Mr Simons also hit out at the Environment Agency's decision to clear a similar fly-tip in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, but not Wigan's.

In December, he said: "This decision throws mud in the face of my working-class constituents in Bickershaw, Wigan. But also, people across the country are suffering from toxic, illegal dumps that don't have the privilege of living in middle-class Oxfordshire. I am so angry about it.

"What is not 'exceptional' about a toxic waste dump on fire right next to a primary school and a bunch of local businesses?"

An Environment Agency spokesperson said: "New information has come to light about the risks at the Kidlington site, which has meant we have taken the exceptional decision to clear the site as soon as possible.

"It's the perpetrators of these miserable waste crimes who should pay the price, rather than taxpayers. In both Kidlington and Wigan, we are laser-focused on finding the offenders and bringing them to justice."

GMP and the Environment Agency were contacted for comment.

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