We are wrapping up our live coverage of the Walleys Quarry closure notice.

Thanks for joining us.

Here is a round-up of what has happened today:

• The Environment Agency (EA) has served a closure notice on Walleys Quarry, meaning it cannot accept new waste deliveries from Friday
• The EA accused the operator of poor management and said the notice was issued after all other enforcement options were exhausted
• Campaigners gathered at the site to celebrate the issuing of the notice, with many saying they were “delighted” by the news
• MP Adam Jogee said there was a “massive sense of relief” and said the community now needed justice
• Walleys Quarry Ltd confirmed it had received the notice and would challenge it “using all available options”
• The operator rejected the EA’s accusations of poor management and said keeping the landfill open “delivers the greatest benefit and sustainability for the site”

The Environment Agency (EA) has previously been criticised by the residents for how it has regulated Walleys Quarry.

Earlier this year, it was revealed that pollution detectors at the site had been underreporting levels of hydrogen sulphide - the chemical responsible for the unpleasant smells.

Asked about the criticism, West Midlands area director Ian Jones told BBC Radio Stoke: “I understand those frustrations and recognise the concern the issues raise.”

He reaffirmed the agency’s “absolute commitment” to ensuring the issues were resolved.

“The team I work with are absolutely dedicated to doing that. We are confident in our approach and the issuing of the notice today underlines how significant an issue this is and how important it is to us to secure that resolution,” he added.

Ian Jones, from the Environment Agency (EA), told BBC Radio Stoke he had been "concerned" with the conditions being experienced by the community.

He said the closure of a landfill was a complex process and described the notice as a “commencement rather than an event” due to the work that needed to be done at the site.

“We remain committed to the situation here and the regulation of the facility,” he added.

Ian Jones, the Environment Agency’s (EA) West Midlands area director, said the saga had been difficult for the local community and he had “every sympathy with them”.

He told BBC Radio Stoke the EA had been “robustly regulating” the site for some time, which has involved more than 180 inspections in the last three years.

“While that has given rise to improvements, those improvements haven’t been sustained,” he added.

Mr Jones said the closure notice was a “last resort” and was only used when other avenues had been exhausted.

Resident Dennis Lownds said he was “over the moon” with the closure notice, adding that it could not have happened sooner enough.

“It’s been discussed for a fair few years and I think the neighbourhood has suffered drastically, especially in the summer and when it rains – the stench is horrible,” he said.

“It should never have happened this close to houses. It should have been out in the country somewhere like most tips are.”

But Mr Lownds added the closure was far too late and it should have been shut down years ago.

“Properties have gone down in value, dust, flies, increase in rats running around – it’s just been horrible.”

Rebecca Currie previously took legal action claiming the fumes at Walleys Quarry had affected the health of her young son Matthew Richards.

Matthew had breathing difficulties due to being born prematurely with chronic lung disease and Ms Currie said the noxious gases from the landfill had made his symptoms worse after the family moved to Silverdale.

Asked how the closure notice made her feel, she said: “Absolutely amazing. I never thought this day was going to come.

“This is amazing for our community but obviously there are still a lot of sick people in this community and this should never have gone on this long.”

The Walleys Quary spokesperson said the operator had made "extensive" factual and legal submissions to the Environment Agency (EA).

But they claimed the EA had not "substantively engaged" with those submissions.

“As a business, we completely reject the accusations made by the Environment Agency relating to poor management of the landfill site.”

A spokesperson for Walleys Quarry Ltd confirmed it had received the closure notice from the Environment Agency (EA) and said the firm would challenge it.

“We are clear that keeping the site open delivers greatest benefit and sustainability for the site,” they said.

“We will challenge this decision using all available options.”

The EA’s closure notice said the operator must lodge an appeal within two months.

Image source, PA Media

The Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal by lawyers for a boy who argued his life was being shortened due to noxious landfill gases from Walleys Quarry in 2022.

Mathew Richards, who was five at the time, had breathing difficulties after being born prematurely with a chronic lung disease. He lived with his family near the landfill site.

Legal action began when Mathew's lawyers successfully argued at the High Court that hydrogen sulphide (H2S) - a poisonous, corrosive gas with an eggy smell - had worsened his underlying health issues, and emissions were affecting hundreds and probably thousands of local people.

The court ordered the Environment Agency (EA) to do more to control H2S levels. At the Court of Appeal, however, the EA argued it was bringing down emissions, with judges agreeing the agency had not acted unlawfully in the work it had already carried out to address issues.

That outcome was in turn being challenged by lawyers representing Mathew, who wished to make their case before the Supreme Court.

But the Supreme Court concluded the bid did "not raise an arguable point of law".

Mathew's mother, Rebecca Currie, said the legal knockback "completely let him down".

Image source, LDRS

Bosses at Walleys Quarry were ordered to investigate an "unacceptable" rise in gas emissions in July.

Air quality monitoring facilities detected sharp rises in hydrogen sulphide levels in the week ending 21 July.

Environment Agency (EA) officials received 277 odour complaints and demanded Walleys Quarry Ltd, which said it worked to minimise the local impact of emissions, to investigate why there had been an increase.

The EA stressed the figures were based on "indicative and incomplete raw data" and they should be treated with caution being subject to change.

However, the data showed hydrogen sulphide levels in local residential street Galingale View breached the "annoyance threshold" 16.5% of the time – up from 6.9% in the last week in June.

This was the highest figure recorded at the site since March.

Ethan Saunders
BBC Radio Stoke

Clare Colclough, who lives around the corner from Walleys Quarry, said the last few years had been “absolutely horrendous”.

She said she was previously diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) and the fumes from the landfill had made her symptoms worse.

“This is a step in the right direction. I’ve cried this morning,” she said.

Ms Colclough said she hoped the area could be restored “correctly” and that residents could start a “better quality of life” for future generations.

MP Adam Jogee said the focus now had to be on restoring the site as well as making sure people got “answers and justice”.

He said there would still be work at Walleys Quarry on gas extraction and restoration, with the “odd lorry” bringing in material for capping – placing a cover over waste at the site.

“The important thing for local people to remember is that no more local waste will be accepted by Walleys Quarry landfill site,” he added.

“We’ll then get to the stage where, once we’ve had the opportunity to celebrate, we can get to work to finally get the answers we need to how on earth we ended up in this mess for so long.”

Adam Jogee, MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, said lorries would no longer be able to enter Walleys Quarry and “blight” the community.

“So many people have campaigned for so long in the rain, in the sleet, in the snow,” he said.

The Labour MP said the closure notice was “so important” for the health and wellbeing of local people.

He added: “I think there’s a massive sense of relief, there’s a massive sense of happiness and celebration.”

Alan White, leader of Staffordshire County Council, said residents had been affected by the “terrible odours” from the site for “too many years”.

He referred to a recent community impact study that said people living near the landfill felt let down and angry.

“This move [the closure notice] brings optimism to residents and, like them, we hope that this is the beginning of the end,” he said.

“We will be watching the situation closely.”

Protesters, including those from campaign group Stop the Stink, have gathered at the landfill site in Silverdale today.

Several have said they were "delighted" by the news of the closure order, which follows years of demonstrations by the group, many of whom live close to the site.

Lee-Bernadette Walford, of campaign group Stop the Stink, said the news was “bittersweet”.

“I’m absolutely elated. We’ve been waiting for this for years and years and years and years,” she said.

“However we have got a really long road ahead of us because they've issued the paper but that doesn’t make the smell go away.”

Simon Tagg, leader of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, said the authority had “for far too long” been urging the Environment Agency (EA) to act “on behalf of a community under siege”.

“Complaints to the council about the foul gas odours have soared this year, already more than double the whole of 2023, and I hope this action by the EA is the first step to a permanent solution for our residents,” he said. “I would encourage residents to carry on the foul smells every time they happen to both the council and the EA.”

Ian Jones, the Environment Agency's West Midlands area director, said they had taken a "robust approach" to regulating Walleys Quarry.

"Our aim has always been to bring the operator into compliance with its permit and the decision to issue a closure notice is not one we take lightly," he said.

"We have given Walleys Quarry Ltd sufficient time to put in place effective measures to manage emissions and it has failed to do so."

Image source, Reuters

Walleys Quarry is a landfill site in Silverdale, Staffordshire, that has been at the centre of a years-long legal row over emissions, smell, and its impact on local residents.

Locals have fought for the site to be closed, with complaints about smell going back to at least 2011.

Annie Miles, who spoke to the BBC in 2021, lived about 800m away from the landfill site. She said: "They call it a smell but that doesn't really explain what it is. It is a toxic gas, and that is what it should be called.

"It feels like a hangover, you're confused, you're exhausted because you've had no sleep.

"It is terrifying, it makes you feel instinctively like you have got to get out of there."

Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council is taking action against the firm in charge of Walleys Quarry over alleged breaches of an abatement notice requiring the operator to control odour problems.

This month, the council said its fund for legal action was set to rise to £1m.

The authority received 290 complaints about Walleys Quarry in October, which was the highest number recorded for that month over the last four years.

The Environment Agency (EA) said it had concluded that management of the landfill site was "poor" and that further operation could result in "significant long-term pollution".

“The notice is the first step towards permanently closing the Newcastle-under-Lyme site," the agency said.

“We have every sympathy with the local community and our decision to issue a closure notice demonstrates our commitment to doing all we can to resolve the problem of fugitive landfill gas emissions from the site."