Disgusting fly-tip needs clearing quickly, PM says

It is believed the mound has been built up since the summer

The "disgusting" mountain of waste illegally dumped near a river in Oxfordshire needs to be cleared "as soon as possible", the Prime Minister has said.

Sir Keir Starmer made the comments to BBC South about the vast fly-tip close to the River Cherwell while visiting a school in Reading.

"I'm really pleased there's a criminal investigation and I want to see that succeed, because the culprits need to be put before a court," he said. "I think the Environment Agency (EA) needs to use all the powers at its disposal to get on with the clean-up."

The Environment Agency said it was "reviewing options for site clearance" but that it was "not a quick process".

Starmer's intervention comes a day after he was asked about the situation during Prime Minister's Questions, when he described it as "appalling".

The mound of rubbish stretches for about 150m (490ft) through a field that runs alongside the A34 in Kidlington.

Fly-tippers are thought to have been building up the mound of waste since the summer, with a neighbouring landowner saying he witnessed truckloads of rubbish dumped there every night for months.

The EA has described the waste mountain content as comprising shredded household and commercial waste such as paper, card and plastic.

Sir Keir Starmer spoke to BBC South at a school breakfast club in Reading

The agency said it had worked "quickly and decisively" since it first visited the site in July, issuing first a cease and desist order to the landowner before obtaining a court order in October to close the site down.

It is pursuing a criminal investigation, and it is undertaking monitoring and taking action to prevent pollution into the River Cherwell from the site, as well as mitigating safety risks around fire and flooding, officers said.

Liberal Democrat MP Calum Miller has called for the government to go further by issuing a directive similar to the one used for the huge amount of waste illegally dumped at Hoades Wood near Ashford, Kent, which told the EA to clear up the site.

It was estimated that the heap of waste in Kent could take up to a year to remove.