Waste mountain was dumped in 'short period of time'

The dumping of thousands of tonnes of illegal waste in a field was a "very long, prepared criminal operation", the head of the Environment Agency (EA) has said.

Philip Duffy told the Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee on Wednesday that waste at the site in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, had been "dumped in a number of nights" despite the site being active for months.

Duffy - who is the chief executive of the EA - told peers that the agency needed to be quicker in their response to waste crime.

The dump in Kidlington, between the River Cherwell and the A34, is thought to contain about 21,000 tonnes of waste in a pile that is up to 150m (490ft) long and 6m (20ft) high.

Answering questions from the committee, Duffy said: "If you look at a case like Kidlington, that was a very long, prepared, criminal operation."

"The gang involved had clearly thought about planning it back to January of that year (2025) - they put up concealment barriers around the site early in that month."

"Actually, the dumping happened over a very short period of time."

The EA previously said four men had been arrested in connection with the illegal waste dump, with all since released whilst inquiries continue.

Locals previously told the BBC they had seen activity on the Kidlington site as early as June, with satellite images from that month showing disturbance to an area of land to the west of the A34.

Joshua Eastwood, who owns land in the neighbouring field, said he had witnessed trucks coming to dispose of waste in the summer of 2025.

He said: "If you were here late at night in the summer, or towards the early hours of the morning, two or three artics [articulated lorries] would come off the carriageway from the M40, do a loop of the roundabout, pull in, dump.

"An excavator comes in, shifts it all and then they're gone. By morning, it's all over and by the time we can report it they've done another load."

Talking on Wednesday, Duffy explained: "A lot of the very largest waste sites - and I would put Kidlington in Oxfordshire in this category - were dumped in a very small number of nights."

He said this was often done in a "very concert operation to maximise the throughput of illegal waste in the shortest possible time".

In November, the EA declared the waste a critical incident.

The mound of rubbish is made up of what appears to be processed domestic waste, shredded plastics, polystyrene, tyres and other household items.

Preparation work to clear the site began in January, amid concerns over the risk of fire and the impact that would have on the nearby A-road.

Duffy also said the EA "does need to improve its performance" to make sure it is "consistently on site faster" when it gets "reliable intelligence" in relation to a potential dump.

He also welcomed new policies that would enable the agency to be on site within 48 hours of receiving a "credible report" of an illegal waste site.

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