A mountain of rubbish sits behind a metal fence in the village of Bickershaw, where it has remained for more than 20 months. For many residents, it is a physical manifestation of the north-south divide as well as a rotting, rat-infested symbol of a broken system in which organised criminal gangs make millions while communities endure the toxic impact of their trade.<\/p>\n
The 25,000 tonnes of household and trade rubbish is one of the largest toxic waste dumps in the country. Unlike many illegal dumps that appear in woodlands, by rivers and on farmland, this one is in the heart of a residential street, right next to a primary school.<\/p>\n
It is an environmental and public health hazard. Last summer the dump was on fire for nine days, forcing the school to shut and imprisoning residents in their homes to escape the fumes.<\/p>\n
In the final few days of campaigning for the Makerfield byelection<\/a>, the mountain of rubbish<\/a> at the end of Bolton House Road has become something of a touchstone for local people of the promises being made by candidates.<\/p>\n The 25,000 tonnes of household and trade rubbish is one of the largest toxic waste dumps in the country. Photograph: Christopher Furlong\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Its continued existence, a year and eight months after the first lorries were seen dumping waste back in October 2024, shows how the north has been forgotten and left behind, some residents say.<\/p>\n They compare the failure to clear up the waste to the swift response of the authorities when a mountain of illegally dumped waste<\/a> was discovered in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, in the south of England, last year. Within weeks, after parliamentary interventions, the Environment Agency<\/a> (EA) announced it would spend millions to clear up the dump, in a departure from its usual practice of pursuing the criminal gangs and forcing landowners to pay for the removal of rubbish on their land. The cleanup is now well under way.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you look at the Oxfordshire one, that got agreed to be tidied up relatively quickly, and that was due to it being a fire hazard,\u201d said Nicha Rowson, a beautician who lives a few doors away from the Bickershaw dump. \u201cWell, this has already been on fire, for nine days, so it\u2019s a north and south divide yet again.\u201d<\/p>\n Many residents acknowledge that the outgoing Labour MP for Makerfield, Josh Simons, actively and publicly campaigned<\/a> to get the dump cleared by the EA. His efforts succeeded when the government announced earlier this year that the agency would clear up the dump at a cost of millions to the taxpayer. But today there is no sign of the mountain of rubbish being removed.<\/p>\n Nicha Rowson, a local resident and campaigner, stands outside the entrance to the waste site. Photograph: Gary Calton\/The Guardian<\/p>\n The Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham<\/a>, who hopes to retain the seat for Labour and fight off Reform UK\u2019s Robert Kenyon in the byelection on 18 June, is keenly aware of the impact of the illegal dump on local people. He has mentioned it in the election leaflets posted through doors in the area and worked with Simons to try to force the authorities to remove it.<\/p>\n Reform, meanwhile, has been quick to capitalise, calling the dump an example of Britain\u2019s decline under successive Conservative and Labour<\/a> governments.<\/p>\n On Wednesday, Reform\u2019s deputy leader, Richard Tice, said the party would hold a \u201cnational action day\u201d on 4 July to clean up litter in communities and tackle waste crime by increasing fines and enforcement action. \u201cToo many communities are being left to deal with litter and fly-tipping, which has become socially acceptable, while those responsible face little consequence for their actions,\u201d Tice said.<\/p>\n Reform byelection placards. The party has called the dump an example of Britain\u2019s decline under Tory and Labour governments. Photograph: Gary Calton\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Signs of support for Reform in Bickershaw were not obvious, however. A couple of houses nearest the dump had Reform placards in the garden but the occupiers were either not home or not keen to talk when the Guardian visited. One woman, getting into her car, said as she departed: \u201cIt\u2019ll still be there in five years\u2019 time.\u201d<\/p>\n Most local people appeared to see Burnham \u2013 who has repeatedly presented himself as a voice for the north, a local champion, and a Westminster antagonist \u2013 as their best hope of getting the illegal dump cleared.<\/p>\n Rowson said: \u201cAndy\u2019s already helped me with the tip, he\u2019s already been pushing to get it tidied up, so for Josh and Andy they\u2019ve given me the confidence that they\u2019ll carry on doing what they have been doing for me.\u201d She favours the idea of Burnham as prime minister, because, she said, \u201cI think he\u2019ll definitely change that north and south divide; that\u2019s the big one\u201d.<\/p>\n Her neighbour, 82-year-old Doris, said she had little confidence that the dump would be removed, but she too was putting her faith in Burnham. \u201cWell, he\u2019s one of us,\u201d she said. \u201cHe\u2019s one of us, so I think he will do something.\u201d<\/p>\n Colin Peters, who worked in IT before he retired, also planned to vote for Burnham. As well as objecting to the smell from the dump, Peters said it was affecting the price of properties.<\/p>\n The ordeal for residents in Bickershaw began in October 2024 when lorries started arriving in Bolton House Road to dump rubbish. Photograph: Gary Calton\/The Guardian<\/p>\n A large section of the waste dump at Bickershaw is on land now owned by the duchy of Lancaster after it reverted to its ownership when no one could be traced as owners.<\/p>\n Peters remarked that he \u201ccould not see King Charles coming up with his bucket and spade\u201d to shift the rubbish and it was Burnham whom he believed could help.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s the only one, out of all the bumf we\u2019ve been getting through the post, who\u2019s actually mentioned [the dump],\u201d he said. \u201cNone of the others have actually mentioned it, so does that tell you he might be the one who\u2019s going to actually do something, or listen to people?\u201d<\/p>\n He added: \u201cHe\u2019s obviously from this area, so he might actually put things forward with more to do with the north-west of the UK, rather than everything being concentrated in the south-east and south.\u201d<\/p>\n The ordeal for residents in Bickershaw began in October 2024 when lorries started arriving in Bolton House Road to dump rubbish. By January 2025 their numbers had grown to 20 or 30 lorries a day. Criminal gangs make millions by diverting rubbish to illegal sites and pocketing the landfill tax, which stands at \u00a3130.75 a tonne. The cost to the economy of a crime labelled as the new narcotics<\/a> is about \u00a31bn a year in cleanup costs, lost legitimate business revenue and evaded taxes.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been horrible,\u201d Rowson said. \u201cIn winter it was more like a methaney smell, summer last year it was like a proper bad rotting smell. I\u2019ve had rats in my house, we\u2019ve had them in the cars. My youngest isn\u2019t living with me at the moment, he\u2019s spending five, six days at his nan\u2019s, because when the smell is bad, it makes him sick.\u201d<\/p>\n Marilyn Naylor: \u2018It\u2019s a nightmare, really.\u2019 Photograph: Gary Calton\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Part of the dump encroaches on the fields used by children at the primary school. Marilyn Naylor, who lives opposite the school fields, said the smell from the dump had stopped the children from playing outside in the past.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a nightmare, really,\u201d she said. \u201cWe seemed to be getting somewhere, and then [Simons] left, so we\u2019ve no idea.\u201d<\/p>\n She too is pinning her hopes on Burnham. \u201cI mean, he\u2019s done so much for Manchester, hasn\u2019t he?\u201d she said. \u201cI think the problem now is when it\u2019s being said that he\u2019s only doing this to get in, which he may be, but he has to get in somewhere, doesn\u2019t he?\u201d<\/p>\n