Five-month clean-up of illegal waste dump near River Cherwell completed

Teams have finished a five-month clean-up operation of an illegal waste dump near the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, officials have announced.The 150-metre-long trail of waste was deposited in a field by the A34 in Kidlington last year, prompting widespread outrage, a criminal investigation and the Environment Agency (EA) declaring it a critical incident in November.The watchdog has since co-ordinated the clean-up operation, with contractors starting to remove 15 to 30 lorry loads of rubbish each day in April.Over five months, teams from Acumen Waste Service removed an estimated 22,704 tonnes of rubbish, with the operation costing at an estimated £6 million.Concrete blocks have been placed to stop access to the site (Joe Giddens/PA )PA WireThey dug up and shifted waste including tyres, shredded plastic and household waste from an 8,000sq metre area, which is bigger than Wembley Stadium.They have now placed concrete blocks at the entrance and the main gate has been securely padlocked to prevent access to the site, officials said.The operation comes as part of a wider Government crackdown on illegal tips after a surge in organised waste crime across the country in recent years.Environment Secretary Dame Angela Eagle said: “Communities deserve to be free from the blight of illegal waste dumping, and this clean-up shows we will bring hope back to local residents.“After years of waste crime being allowed to fester, we are taking decisive action through our crackdown, and cleaning up sites like Kidlington is just one part.“By putting more officers on the frontline and using drones to catch offenders in the act, we’re putting the criminal gangs on notice that there is nowhere left to hide.”The Environment Agency funded the estimated £6 million Cherwell operation, although officials said they will pursue those responsible for the money as their investigation develops. (Jacob King/Joe Giddens/PA)The Environment Agency shut down the Kidlington site in October 2025, with a decision taken on December 11 to clear the rubbish amid the risk of fire breaking out.Read MoreThere had also been concerns that pollution from the tip could spill into the nearby River Cherwell, prompting officials to install barriers to protect the waterway.Water quality sampling was regularly taken at the site but found no evidence of a significant impact on the local environment, officials said.Four people have been arrested in the Environment Agency’s criminal investigation.Philip Duffy, chief executive of the regulator, said: “We are very pleased that the clearance of this site has now been completed, and the EA has made a number of arrests as we pursue those responsible for this abhorrent offending.“Dumping like this needs to be stopped in the first place.“To do that we are going upstream, removing criminals and corruption from the waste system; improving the exchange of intelligence between agencies; and revoking the permits of those who do not take adequate care.”The agency funded the estimated £6 million Cherwell operation, although officials said they will pursue those responsible for the money as their investigation develops.The Government has also pledged to clean five other illegal waste sites, including Bolton House Road in Wigan, where 18,000 tonnes of waste was dumped, and a stretch of land in Hyndburn, Lancashire, where 10,000 tonnes was left.