Illegal waste tip investigation launched in Kent
BBCAn investigation has been launched into another illegal waste site in Kent - one of a number blighting the county's countryside which have been highlighted by BBC South East.
The Environment Agency (EA) confirmed it is investigating the site at Basser Hill near Sittingbourne - just two miles from an illegal tip at Raspberry Hill Park Farm.
It comes as the environment secretary is due to respond to a House of Lords' report which criticises the EA for not shutting down illegal waste quickly enough.
Dumping still appears to be taking place at the Raspberry Hill Park Farm more than a year after the BBC visited - but the EA says it is cracking down on illegal activity at the site.
Waste dumping also appeared to be continuing at Basser Hill when the BBC visited last week, despite the EA saying it visited the "illegal waste site" on November 24.
"Our officers.....met with the landowner and instructed them to stop accepting waste and to clear the illegally deposited waste on site," the EA told the BBC.
The Labour MP for Sittingbourne and Sheppey, Kevin McKenna, said sites are now springing up in the local area and it is not only happening in Kent.
"This is happening all over," he said.
"The Government has given more money to the EA specifically to tackle this, but we clearly need to do more. It really is a disgrace on the nation."
The House of Lords' report was published following an inquiry into serious and organised waste crime in September.
The Lords' Environment and Climate Change committee was told by the EA there were six other large sites across the country, similar in size to Hoads Wood near Ashford - where 30,000 tonnes of waste was illegally dumped.
However, on Friday last week, the chair of committee, Baroness Sheehan, said she was "alarmed" the EA did not notify it about a number of other illegal waste sites, including the mountain of waste in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, as well as sites in Wigan and Worcestershire, which have since come to light in the media.
The EA has called the claims "inaccurate" and said it "responded comprehensively" to the questions it was asked.
The list of six sites given to the committee includes one in the Sittingbourne area. The EA won't confirm which it is, but the BBC believes it is one of either Raspberry Hill Park Farm or Basser Hill.
After the BBC witnessed ongoing waste activity at Raspberry Hill Park Farm, we asked the landowner for comment, but have had no reply.
Regarding the site, the EA said: "We have taken a number of site visits, multi-agency visits, drone flights and other activities to disrupt and stop illegal waste activity at the site."
Meanwhile, at another large illegal site in Kent, Brambletree Wharf, near Borstal, the landowner has failed to comply with a planning inspector's order to remove the waste.
The Labour MP for Rochester and Strood, Lauren Edwards, expressed anger over the EA not bringing a prosecution in the case.
She said: "I think we should be having a debate in Parliament about whether the EA is using all the powers they have available to them, or whether they need stronger powers to actually tackle this issue."
According to the EA, the land near Borstal has now been sold, although there are no records to confirm this on the Government's Land Registry website.
The EA said it continued to work with Medway Council on the illegal waste dumping at Brambletree Wharf and it has made it a priority to talk to the new landowner to get the waste removed from site.
The EA says last year it delivered on its commitment to tackle waste crime across the country by stopping 743 illegal waste sites, securing 13 prosecutions against waste criminals resulting in £133,000 in fines and six custodial sentences.
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