Environment Agency | The owner of a business near Braintree hiring out rubbish skips has been sentenced to a six-month suspended prison term.

Chelmsford magistrates’ court heard about Roy Brett’s “repeated failure” to accept Environment Agency warnings regarding overflowing skips and uncovered waste. Brett’s company, RJ Brett Contracts Ltd, was fined £3,000 for similar offences.

Chair of the bench Andrew McGregor said the site “posed multiple risks to the environment and human safety, including by fire”.

Between 2024 and this year, Brett refused to comply with repeated orders to clear the waste that overflowed from an ever-growing number of skips. Brett’s inaction placed the environment at risk from the small yard at Cressing. The site was exposed to the elements, with no sealed drainage.

The yard was full of wood, metal, textiles, and builders’ rubbish. Hardly any space was left, causing a fire-risk, and a lot of waste was just stored on the ground.

Brett had claimed he “didn’t do e-mails”, so “missed” written instructions to remove the waste, piled up across the site, but the Environment Agency also warned him in person.

He didn’t have an environmental permit to manage the yard, but finally, after lots of excuses and denial when challenged by the Environment Agency, Brett admitted in court to breaching environmental law. RJ Brett Contracts Ltd was also charged.

Brett faces a custodial sentence if he commits other offences or doesn’t clear the site by November 2026.

Essex Fire and Rescue Service had concerns about the site, too. They told Brett to tidy up the yard, and make sure no waste that could start a fire was brought in.

The Environment Agency began an investigation into the site in July 2024. Officers found more than a dozen skips brimming with waste. Brett was given three months to remove it all.

Officers were back on site when the deadline passed as the situation hadn’t improved. Brett was then warned the site must be cleaned up, or face prosecution. By early 2025, almost 50 skips filled the yard, some on top of others. Officers also saw large piles of wood and soil. There were also problems with smells.

Brett sought to legitimise his waste operation by registering exemptions from environmental permits that are meant for low-risk activity. But the Environment Agency deregistered the exemptions when the site took on too much waste.

As well as the order to remove all waste, the 66-year-old, of Winstree Road, Stanway, in Colchester, was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for 18 months. He was ordered to undergo 30 days of rehabilitation activities and told to pay a £154 victim surcharge. RJ Brett Contracts Ltd was fined £3,000 and must pay a victim surcharge of £1,200.

RJ Brett Contracts Ltd was charged with four offences:

  • Operating the waste facility at Lanham Green Road in Cressing, without an environmental permit between 3 July 2024 and 31 January 2025.
  • And between 1 February 2025 and 30 January 2026, both contrary to regulations 12 and 38 (1)(a) of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016.
  • Failing to comply with a notice dated 28 November 2024, requiring the company to remove controlled waste from the site by 30 January 2025, contrary to sections 59ZB(2) and 59ZB(6) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
  • And keeping controlled waste at the site in a manner likely to cause environmental pollution or harm to human health, contrary to section 33(1)(c) contrary to Section 33(1)(c) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

Roy Brett was also charged with four offences:

  • Contrary to regulations 12, 38(1)(a) and 41(1) of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016, knowing of or contributing to operation of the waste facility at Lanham Green Road, in Cressing, by RJ Brett Contracts Ltd, without an environmental permit between 3 July 2024 31 January 2025.
  • And between 1 February 2025 and 30 January 2026.
  • Contrary to section 59(5) and s157(1) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. knowing of or contributing to RJ Brett Contracts Ltd failing to comply with a notice dated 28 November 2024 served on the company, requiring it to remove controlled waste from the site by 30 January 2025.
  • Contrary to sections 33(1)(c) and 157 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, knowing of or contributing to RJ Brett Contracts Ltd keeping controlled waste in a manner likely to cause pollution to the environment or harm to human health.

HSE | A local authority has been fined £6,000 after an employee suffered serious injuries when a stepladder collapsed beneath him.

The employee of Wirral Council was attempting to access a loft space at the Council-operated Dale Farm site in Heswall, Wirral, when the incident occurred. As he neared the top of the stepladder, it gave way causing him to fall to the ground. He suffered a fractured collarbone and broken ribs.

The HSE’s investigation found that Wirral Council had failed to ensure, so far as was reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of its employees by not adequately controlling the risks associated with working at height and the use of ladders.

The investigation identified failures in the Council’s management of work at height activities. Ladder use was not effectively controlled and despite identifying ladders that were not in a good state of repair and unsafe to use, they remained in place, accessible to any employee who wanted to use them.

Furthermore, employees had not received training in in relation to how to assess a ladder as being safe to use.

Wirral MBC pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined £6,000 with £4,000 in costs.

After the hearing HSE Inspector Mike Lisle said: “This worker suffered painful and life-changing injuries in a fall that could have been prevented.

“The council failed to put in place basic measures to manage the risks associated with working at height. Employees had not received suitable training and ladders were not being systematically inspected to ensure they were safe.

“Employers should ensure suitable equipment is properly maintained, workers are trained and robust arrangements are in place for all work at height activities.”

This HSE prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement Lawyer Matthew Reynolds and paralegal officer Lynne Thomas.

HSE | A plastic packaging manufacturer has been fined for the second time in less than a year after a worker suffered a severe crush injury when their hand was drawn into the rollers of a laminating machine at its site in Telford.

Reflex Flexible Packaging Limited was sentenced in November 2025 after an employee died when he became trapped in an unguarded machine at the company’s site in Langley Mill, Derbyshire. This latest case relates to a separate incident on 17 January 2025, at the company’s Telford premises, when a worker suffered serious injuries while cleaning a machine.

The worker, a laminator operative and shift supervisor employed by the company, was injured while cleaning a laminator machine at the company’s premises on Halesfield, Telford.

The worker was cleaning the machine’s rollers using rags after a production run had finished. As they cleaned the machine, a rag became caught between two in-running rollers and pulled their left hand into the nip point between them. Their hand was drawn into the machine up to the wrist.

A colleague immediately activated the emergency stop, allowing the worker to free their hand from the machine. They were taken to hospital with a severe crush injury. The worker underwent two operations on their left hand, spent four nights in hospital and later required physiotherapy to rebuild strength in the injured hand.

Investigating, the HSE found that Reflex Flexible Packaging Limited had failed to ensure effective measures were in place to prevent access to the dangerous moving parts of the laminating machine.

The company had failed to provide a fixed guard to prevent access to the in-running nip point between the rollers during cleaning operations. The HSE investigation also revealed that the company’s risk assessment and safe system of work were not suitable and sufficient. The cleaning operation had not been properly assessed and the risk of a worker being drawn into the machine during cleaning had not been identified. The safe system of work also failed to provide clear instructions regarding the use of the foot pedal to rotate the rollers during the cleaning process.

Reflex Flexible Packaging Limited, of Vision House, Hamilton Way, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, NG18 5BU, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1) of The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.

The company was fined £60,000 and ordered to pay £4,464 in costs at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court on 10 August 2026.

HSE Inspector Zach Morris said: “This incident was entirely preventable. Reflex Flexible Packaging Limited failed to ensure that effective measures were in place to prevent access to dangerous parts of the laminating machine during cleaning operations.

“This is the second time in less than a year that this company has been sentenced for health and safety offences, following a fatal incident at another of its sites. Dangerous moving parts of machinery continue to cause serious injuries in workplaces across Great Britain. Dutyholders should not focus solely on normal machine operation when considering access to dangerous parts. They must also consider activities such as cleaning, maintenance, and repair where workers may be exposed to dangerous parts of machinery that are inaccessible during normal operations.

“HSE will not hesitate to take enforcement action against dutyholders who fail to protect workers from these well-known and foreseeable risks.”

This HSE prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Neenu Bains and paralegal officer Benjamin Stobbart.

Environment Agency | Investigations by the Environment Agency into water pollution incidents in the West Midlands have seen Severn Trent Water Limited contribute £2,277,424 million to countryside charities.

This money is now supporting projects in the region after two Enforcement Undertakings (EU) were completed by the Environment Agency.

Severn Trent contributed over £1.8 million to Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust who are working on projects including the Severn Treescapes project, helping to plant and restore trees at a number of sites.

Another countryside charity to benefit is Severn Rivers Trust who are receiving £450,000.

Severn Trent will also cover the Environment Agency’s costs and carry out actions to stop offending, prevent a recurrence and/or restore any harm.

An Enforcement Undertaking is available to the Environment Agency as a sanction for dealing with some environmental offences.

The investigations have ended in the Environment Agency accepting EUs from Severn Trent for the two incidents which brought illegal sewage discharges into watercourses.

Incidents and payments:

  • £1.5 million to Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust for two unauthorised sewage discharges from Blackminster Wastewater Treatment Works, Evesham, Worcestershire. These occurred on 12 June 2022 and 20 August 2022 into Broadway Brook.
  • £327,424 to Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust for failing to comply with a permit for levels of ammonia in effluent at Cheltenham (Hayden) Wastewater Treatment Works, Hayden Lane, on or before 13 September 2021.
  • £450,000 to Severn Rivers Trust from the same incident at Cheltenham (Hayden).

HSE | An event structure company and its director have been fined after an employee suffered severe, life-changing injuries while dismantling an internal steel frame.

iSkate Limited employee, Natalie McCreith, 38, a former outdoor sports instructor, had worked for the company for 14 years when she was seriously injured while working at Beaverbrook Hotel and Golf Course Leatherhead, Surrey, on 26 June 2024.

Ms McCreith underwent an 11-hour operation, spent three months in hospital and is still recovering following the incident.

During the dismantling of a steel beam temporary structure, a ratchet strap was being used to lower a steel beam weighing over 100kg. The ratchet strap was not designed for lifting or lowering loads and failed, causing the beam to fall onto Ms McCreith. She sustained multiple fractures to her back, a punctured lung and a broken leg.

Neil Munn, director of iSkate Limited, was on site at the time and made the decision to use the ratchet strap, instructing workers where to stand. He continued with the method even after Ms McCreith raised concerns about whether it was safe.

The HSE’s investigation found that iSkate Limited had failed to ensure that the dismantling of the internal steel frame was properly planned and carried out safely.

iSkate Limited, of Norfolk House, Station Road, St Ives, Cambridgeshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 16(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, by virtue of Regulation 20(1). The company was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay £6,949 in costs.

Neil Munn, director of iSkate Limited, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, by virtue of Regulation 16(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 and Regulation 20(1). He received a community order with 75 hours of unpaid work to be completed.

In a victim personal statement, Ms McCreith said: “Since the accident, my life has been completely turned upside down it’s now the polar opposite of what it once was.

“I will never live the life I once had or be in a body that isn’t screaming at me all day, I wish I could turn back time. My family spent the journey from Liverpool to London thinking I was dead, they have had to watch someone they love go through agonising pain and continue to do so.

“I am not the person I once was, I can’t be everything I once was and for them this journey also continues.”

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Russell Beckett said: “Demolition and dismantling is a high-hazard work activity, but if the work is properly planned it can be carried out safely. This accident has had a devastating effect on Ms McCreith and could easily have been prevented had the right work equipment been used.”

This prosecution was brought by HSE enforcement lawyer Will Bodiam and paralegal officer Hannah Snelling.

Environment Agency | EA investigations into waste and water offences across Lincolnshire have secured £168,000 for a Lincolnshire charity.

The money will be used by Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust to support nature recovery and deliver environmental benefits across Lincolnshire. It follows Enforcement Undertakings accepted by the Environment Agency.

An Enforcement Undertaking is available to the Environment Agency as a sanction for dealing with some environmental offences.

£60,000 came from Bowring Transport Limited of Forest Road, Warsop, Nottinghamshire who deposited construction and demolition waste without authorisation at Hook Cliff Farm, Gonerby Moor, Grantham between 9 June 2020 and 14 April 2022.

£40,000 was paid by Fox (Owmby) Limited of Caenby Corner, Market Rasen, Lincolnshire who deposited mixed waste without authorisation at Willow Holt Caravan and Camping Park, Tattershall, Lincolnshire between 8 December 2020 and 28 January 2021.

£30,000 was handed over by Crockway Farms Limited, Long Ash Lane, Dorchester, Dorset, following a slurry discharge from a pig unit in Market Rasen on 7 April 2023, which spread to nearby land and into a drainage ditch.

£26,000 was paid by Construction & Environmental Services Limited of East Street, St Ives, Cambridgeshire who deposited construction and demolition waste without authorisation at Hook Cliff Farm, Gonerby Moor, Grantham between 9 June 2020 and 14 April 2022.

The remaining £12,000 came from Earthborn Transport Limited of Rectory Road, West Bridgford who deposited construction and demolition waste without authorisation at Hook Cliff Farm, Gonerby Moor, Grantham between 9 June 2020 and 14 April 2022.

All offenders made contributions to the Environment Agency’s costs and have carried out actions to stop offending, prevent a recurrence or restore any harm.

Environment Agency | A major property developer has been fined £300,000 after a blocked sewer led to raw sewage, including what was thought to be blood from an abattoir, spilling into a stream.

Taylor Wimpey UK Ltd pleaded guilty in July 2023 to breaching the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 by polluting a tributary of Shotton Beck with sewage while building new homes at Eden Gardens, Sedgefield, in September 2019.

The company was sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court after a delay caused by a trial on a related contested charge for which the company was acquitted.

It was fined £300,000 and ordered to pay costs and a victim surcharge amounting to £11,042.10.

The court heard construction debris had fallen through a manhole, blocking the sewer and causing it to burst, which sent sewage spilling into a stream and on to the construction site, including what was thought to be effluent from a nearby abattoir.

The new manhole chambers had been both poorly built and not fenced off, leading to construction site traffic causing damage.

The company had already been advised about pollution prevention regarding debris in the sewage system after an earlier incident in June 2019.

The court heard that as part of the new housing development, Taylor Wimpey had applied to Northumbrian Water to construct some new sewers and divert an existing one, which included constructing several new manhole chambers.

By mid-2019 the diverted sewer was carrying sewage through the site despite none of the legal agreements with Northumbrian Water being finalised.

On 4 June 2019, Northumbrian Water attended the site because a bung, which is placed to close off a section of disused sewer, had been dislodged and become stuck further down the line, and as a result sewage effluent flooded out of a manhole cover and on to the construction site.

The company was later advised by the Environment Agency and Northumbrian Water about pollution prevention and good working practices, including the need to stop debris entering the sewer network.

However, on 17 September 2019, an Environment Agency officer carrying out a routine inspection near Sedgefield saw sewage fungus on the stream bed of Shotton Beck.

He investigated the nearby Sewage Treatment Works but found no issues. He then saw sewage upstream of the sewage works and the source was quickly identified as the nearby Taylor Wimpey housing development.

On arrival at site, officers saw sewage in the stream, which was discharging from the sewer just outside the site boundary. Photographs taken that afternoon showed the stream turning a red colour, suspected to be effluent from a local abattoir which would normally be treated at the sewage works, and sewage fungus strewn at least 1.5km downstream.

The discovery of sewage fungus to that extent meant that the sewer burst is highly likely to have happened days earlier.

During subsequent meetings and when initially responding during the Environment Agency’s investigation, Taylor Wimpey had denied responsibility for both incidents but once the case reached court the company immediately pleaded guilty to the sewage discharge.

Environment Agency | The Environment Agency has secured an Enforcement Undertaking from Anglian Water Services that will see £275,000 go towards environmental improvement projects across Lincolnshire.

This comes after two permit breaches led to unauthorised sewage being discharged into the North Sea.

Anglian Water Services submitted the Enforcement Undertaking offer following a detailed investigation by the Environment Agency into the unauthorised discharge of sewage from Richmond Drive Terminal Pumping Station in August 2020 and non-compliance with permit conditions at Ingoldmells Water Recycling Centre in August 2020 and September 2022.

The investigation identified a combination of contributing factors, including underinvestment, and inadequate monitoring and management of both the treatment process and the sewer network. The discharges were to the North Sea via a long-sea outfall and the actual environmental harm is unknown.

The company has since taken action to improve and control sludge levels at the sewage works, including installing a new settlement tank, increasing monitoring efforts, and enlisting the help of specialist contractors.

Alongside the offer to East Mercia Rivers Trust, the company will also reimburse the Environment Agency’s investigation costs.

Enforcement Undertakings are legally binding agreements between the Environment Agency and those that have breached environmental regulations.

The person offering the EU is required to take steps to prevent a repeat of the offending and to put right the damage caused.

The offences were:

  • Operating without or other than in accordance with an environmental permit (water discharge activity) – Regulation 38 (1).
  • Failure to comply with a permit condition (water discharge activity) – Regulation 38 (2).

The offences relate to the unauthorised discharge of sewage from Richmond Drive Terminal Pumping Station, Lincolnshire into Croft Bank Drain on 25 August 2020 and non-compliance with permit conditions at Ingoldmells Water Recycling Centre between 25 August 2020 and 26 August 2020, and between 24 September 2022 and 25 September 2022.

Environment Agency | Three Dorset farm companies have paid £33,500 to environmental charities after an Environment Agency investigation into their failure to store slurry correctly.

Crockway Farms Ltd, Drummers Farming Limited, and Crutchley Farms Partnership were found to have failed to follow regulations designed to protect local waterways. In two cases, poorly managed slurry stores led to pollution entering watercourses. In the third, a farm installed new slurry stores without securing the required permit.

All three businesses accepted enforcement undertakings, a sanction that avoids prosecution in return for funding environmental projects and have since introduced stronger measures to ensure full compliance with environmental rules.

The money will now support local projects aimed at improving and protecting Dorset’s natural environment.

Drummers Farming Limited is a farm near Sherbourne in Dorset which caused two slurry pollution incidents in spring 2024.

In April 2024, slurry from its lagoon entered the Leigh Tributary of the Beer Hackett Stream (also known as the River Wriggle).

Alarms activated, but because the event happened during the middle of the night, immediate action was not taken.

In the second incident, laboratory analysis of water samples collected during the Environment Agency investigation showed levels of ammonia which could be lethal to aquatic life.

In both cases, the impact of the slurry could be identified over 1.2 miles downstream.

Changes have been put in place to reduce future risk, including a significant investment in slurry storage, removing an overflow pipe and better monitoring the use of slurry.

The farm gave £10,000 to the Dorset Wildlife Trust, which will be used for the Winfrith and Tadnoll Wetland Restoration Project.

In the case of Crutchley Farms Partnership, Environment Agency officers traced pollution to Marsh Farm in October 2023.

Environment Agency officers investigated pollution in the Mangerton Brook and traced it to Marsh Farm, near Bridport, in October 2023.

Slurry was found entering the stream from a concrete tank’s overflow pipe because a pump had failed

The watercourse had an unpleasant odour and was covered in sewage fungus.

Organic waste was identifiable over 300 metres downstream from the farm, with significant deterioration in the ecology over 800 metres.

The farm put measures in place to prevent further pollution incidents, including a text warning system, and daily inspections.

The company gave £7,500 to the Dorset Wildlife Trust for a trees and wetland project.

Crockway Farms Ltd is an intensive pig farm which failed to obtain an environmental permit before making major changes to the site by installing two new slurry stores.

Strict permits are required for pig farms, as the Environment Agency must consider ammonia emissions and the risk of effluent discharges.

Ammonia in the atmosphere can be harmful to human health and the environment.

Crockway Farms gave £16,000 to the Farm and Wildlife Advisory Group South West, a conservation charity in Dorset which works to reduce farm run off and flood risk in catchments.

Environment Agency | The Environment Agency (EA) has secured £2.35 million from Yorkshire Water for environmental improvements following a series of pollution incidents.

The EA accepted seven enforcement undertakings after separate pollution incidents at wastewater treatment works and sewer infrastructure across the region.

The Yorkshire Water incidents, which took place between 2019 and 2023, involved unauthorised sewage discharges into rivers and watercourses including the Rivers Ure, Dearne, Aire, and Calder.

The cash will go to environmental charities to bolster improvements, and includes improvements to nature reserves, wetland habitat creation and restoring flood plains.

Yorkshire Water made the enforcement undertaking offers after Environment Agency investigations into the incidents.

Yorkshire Water will make the following financial contributions:

  • £500,000 to Don Catchment Rivers Trust for the failure of a storm tank at Lundwood Wastewater Treatment Works, Barnsley, and unauthorised sewage discharges into the River Dearne.
  • £500,000 to Don Catchment Rivers Trust for an unauthorised sewage discharge from a burst rising main at Stainforth Huddle Grounds, Doncaster.
  • £350,000 to Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust for an unauthorised sewage discharge from Leyburn Sewage Treatment Works into the River Ure.
  • £300,000 to Aire Rivers Trust for three unauthorised sewage discharges into the River Aire from Knostrop Wastewater Treatment Works in Leeds.
  • £300,000 split between Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (£150,000) and Calder and Colne Rivers Trust (£150,000) for an unauthorised sewage discharge at High Royd Towpath Combined Sewer Overflow, Sowerby Bridge, into the River Calder.
  • £250,000 to Calder and Colne Rivers Trust for an unauthorised sewage discharge from a collapsed combined sewer into Cockleshaw Beck, East Bierley, Kirklees.
  • £150,000 to Yorkshire Wildlife Trust for an unauthorised sewage discharge at Laithes Lane in Athersley South in Barnsley.

In addition to the financial contributions, Yorkshire Water has carried out a wide range of remedial actions at each site as part of the sanctions. This includes repairing and upgrading infrastructure, installing new alarm and telemetry systems, commissioning ecological surveys, and updating operational procedures.

The company will also pay all the EA’s investigation costs.

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