'Why has illegal dump been allowed to get so huge?'

A resident living near a huge illegal rubbish dump has expressed concern about the time taken for it to begin being cleared and fears it will just build up again in future.

The site at Bickershaw, Wigan, has been the subject of multiple complaints from residents about the stench and about it attracting rats and flies. It caught fire last summer, causing businesses and a school to close.

Now the government has announced it is to clear the dump, which has been building up since October 2024, but resident Andrew Humphries said it "could have been stopped from day one".

The Environment Agency previously said it was "doing everything in its powers to manage the site" and "identify the perpetrators".

It said it had launched a "major criminal investigation and interviewed individuals under caution".

Andrew said the main issues for him were "the smell and the rodent problems but I know for other residents, nobody comes out their houses, nobody mixes with each other".

"People are too frightened to say anything," he added.

He said he was concerned the Environment Agency knew about the tip and residents had even passed on registration numbers and details of all vehicles going in there but "not one of those companies have been prosecuted for putting illegal waste in there".

Makerfield MP Josh Simons told BBC North West Tonight news of the Environment Agency clearing the site was "the best case outcome that we could have hoped for", adding the tip was a "blight" that caused residents, businesses and the school to suffer.

He said: "It never should be the case that, when the Environment Agency are investigating a site, they sit there and watch it grow."

The government earlier announced new powers aimed at preventing waste mountains like the one in Bickershaw in the future.

Responding to this, Labour MP Simons said of the Environment Agency, which has regulatory powers and can bring prosecutions: "They've got to take tougher action faster and the enforcement powers and the resources that the government have given them today will allow them to take that action much earlier so that these sites never grow to be like this in the first place."

Another smaller site at Hyndburn in Lancashire is also to be cleared, with both site clearances set to cost taxpayers millions of pounds.

The land is partly owned by several parties, including Wigan Council and the Duchy of Lancaster, which inherited a third of the plot under an ancient law.

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has previously said it should help with the clean-up.

Commenting on this, Simons said: "Well, the government is going to take the lead on clearing up the site.

"The Environment Agency are in charge. They will clear up the site and how they cover that cost is a matter for them and the government."

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