River close to engulfing waste mountain, MP warns

A river is rising and threatening to engulf a mountain of fly-tipped waste in a field, an MP has warned.

After heavy rain over the weekend, the River Cherwell is now lapping against the "obscene" 150m (490ft) long pile near Kidlington in Oxfordshire, Calum Miller told the House of Commons.

The Liberal Democrat MP for Bicester and Woodstock said the situation had become "much more urgent" and asked the government to intervene.

Environment Minister Emma Hardy said the Environment Agency was investigating and had acted to prevent further access to the site.

Fly-tippers are thought to have spent weeks building up the mound in a field between the river and the A34.

The Oxfordshire MP said it had reached a height of up to 12m (39ft).

Asking a Urgent Question in the House of Commons, he said the river level had risen by about 4ft (1.2m) in recent days and some of the waste was now afloat.

He said: "This incident highlights that organised criminal gangs are carefully planning operations to dump industrial waste in the countryside.

"They earn millions of pounds in illegal earnings without a thought for the health of people or animals, nor the damage to soil, water or air.

"And I am deeply concerned that the Environment Agency (EA) is not equipped to deal with this unfolding environmental disaster."

Mr Miller said the government should order a clean-up by issuing a directive to the EA, similar to the one given for Hoades Wood in Kent in 2024.

He also urged ministers to review the government's response to waste crime and allow the National Crime Agency to investigate the most serious cases.

The minister replied that she shared the MP's "anger" over the fly-tip.

She said: "Because there's a criminal investigation ongoing, I don't want to pre-empt the findings of that.

"But I can reassure him that the Environment Agency are working very, very closely with local partners."

Ms Hardy added that the Local Resilience Forum had been notified to explore the possibility of support from various agencies.

The Environment Agency, which is leading the criminal inquiry, said it first attended the site on 2 July.

It said it immediately issued a cease and desist order on the landowner and more recently obtained a court order to close the field.

Previously, it said it aimed to make the polluter clear the site and would only do so itself if no culprit was found or the waste posed an "imminent threat to life".