Episode 5

The Environment Agency gets called in when a waste site flouts the rules and local residents start complaining. The facility is supposed to be a plastics recycling plant, but lorry loads of illegal waste are being delivered on a regular basis. Investigators decide to take a look, and what they find rings alarm bells – piles and piles of waste covering the site. Not only is it way beyond what’s permitted to be on a plastics recycling site, but more worryingly, it’s not being stored properly and there’s a genuine risk of it catching fire as a result. The Environment Agency takes swift action.

In a second case, Trading Standards are called in after a spate of fake Sky TV remote controls flood the local market. As officers start to investigate, they unearth a massive operation in fake goods being sold on online auction sites. As well as remote controls, the seller has electrical items and cosmetics up for sale, all pretending to be from well-known brands. It’s putting consumers at risk and running up a massive bill in unpaid tax – money which should be in the public purse.