Skip operator who mismanaged waste site sentenced

A skip hire operator who admitted mismanagement of a waste facility that led to a large fire has been sentenced.

A hearing was told Paul Sellars had shown a flagrant disregard for the law by taking waste and not storing it safely at the site in Wood Lane, in Greetham, Rutland, between October 2023 and August 2024, the Environment Agency said.

Concerns over the volume of waste at the site were raised, with the blaze breaking out a day after a suspension order was imposed.

The 65-year-old, of Wheatsheaf Lane, in Greetham, was handed a 14-week prison sentence, suspended for two years, at Leicester Magistrates' Court on Thursday.

Sellars was also banned from waste-related work and licence applications for two years, and ordered to pay £554 in costs.

The court heard he had operated a skip hire business at the facility under an environmental permit allowing him to accept and transfer household, commercial and industrial waste.

However, the agency said Rutland County Council had cancelled his contract in July 2023 over concerns about the volume of waste on the site and the safety of operatives and driver.

It said agency officers also served Sellars a suspension order in February 2024 banning him from taking further waste.

The following day, a fire broke out in a waste pile four metres tall, believed to have been caused by a discarded lithium-ion battery, the agency said, and took firefighters more than three hours to put out.

Sellars was given warnings from the agency, but he continued to accept waste and ignored notices to remove excess material from the site.

Proceedings began to revoke his permit but Sellars had sold the site in August 2024 to a new operator, who has since cleared the site, the agency added.

Sellars admitted operating a waste facility outside its permitted boundaries between October 2023 to August 2024.

He also pleaded guilty to accepting unpermitted waste and storing it unsafely and accepting waste after his permit had been suspended.

Laura Richardson, environment manager for the agency in Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, said: "The Environment Agency will pursue any person or company that fails to uphold the law to protect nature and will continue to press for the strongest possible penalties.

"Failure to comply with these legal requirements is a serious offence that can damage the environment and harm human health."

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