MP and council clash over large illegal waste dump

More than one million pounds has been approved to clear an illegal waste dump in Hinckley.

Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council have agreed to the funding, which will see them pay up to £1.3 million to clear about 2,500 tonnes of domestic and commercial waste on land off the A47 Leicester Road between Hinckley and Earl Shilton.

Dr Luke Evans, Tory MP for Hinckley and Bosworth, has written to council leader Stuart Bray questioning whether officials had done enough to secure the site before the waste was tipped. Bray told the BBC the council and council taxpayers had been the victims of crime and said Evans was using the situation to "play politics" ahead of local elections in May.

A council spokesperson said: “The Borough Council will account fully for the management of the site and had already committed to a full, evidence-led review before receiving Dr Evans’s latest letter. It will establish the chronology, how access was gained, whether further safeguards could reasonably have prevented the incident and what measures are needed at other relevant council-owned sites."

Huw Williams, a Barwell parish councillor, spoke to BBC Leicester’s Ady Dayman about his reaction when he first saw how much rubbish there was.

Image: Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council