{"id":255527,"date":"2026-01-28T07:45:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T07:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/255527\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T07:45:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T07:45:12","slug":"were-coming-for-waste-criminals-say-investigators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/255527\/","title":{"rendered":"‘We’re coming for waste criminals’ say investigators"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tom EdwardsHereford & Worcester political reporter<\/p>\n

\"BBCBBC<\/p>\n

Marc Lidderth from the Environment Agency has called it a “scar” on communities<\/p>\n

Investigators have revealed more details about suspected illegal waste dumping sites in Worcestershire and said the net was closing in on the culprits.<\/p>\n

Concerns have risen over large mountains of waste appearing in areas such as Evesham and Peopleton, with residents calling it an “environmental horror”<\/a>. <\/p>\n

West Mercia Police and the Environment Agency said they believe those dumping grounds are “interlinked” with a third suspected illegal waste site near Wadborough<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Waste lorries that were operating illegally as well as plant machinery have been seized. Marc Lidderth from the Environment Agency said it was doing everything it could.<\/p>\n

A joint investigation was launched several months ago between police and the Environment Agency, resulting in raids taking place earlier this month. <\/p>\n

“Waste criminals who are doing this are scarring the environment, as well as the communities where these sites are,” Lidderth said.<\/p>\n

“There are people out there who are making money from this – doing it for their own gain with no care for the communities where they are dumping this waste. <\/p>\n

“For the criminals who are doing this (I would say), ‘the Environment Agency is going to be coming for you’ – I’ve got dedicated people who are working tirelessly on this.” <\/p>\n

\"PeopletonPeopleton community<\/p>\n

This site in Evesham is one of the sites under active investigation<\/p>\n

Earlier this month nearly \u00a3100,000 in cash was seized and two men arrested in the raids. <\/p>\n

Officers also seized six guns, suspected fake electrical goods and a suspected stolen vehicle<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The two men arrested have since been bailed, as the investigation into suspected money laundering and illegal waste sites continues. <\/p>\n

Insp Dave Wise, from West Mercia Police, said: “Over the last few months we’ve seized several lorries and plant machinery that’s linked to the misuse of land in this way. <\/p>\n

“We’re becoming more aware all the time, of how this type of crime is operating. <\/p>\n

“I would say that ‘the net is closing in’ around these people – their time will come.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tom EdwardsHereford & Worcester political reporter BBC Marc Lidderth from the Environment Agency has called it a “scar”…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":255528,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[273,111,139,69,147],"class_list":["post-255527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255527\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/255528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}