Police find 200 tonnes of waste fly-tipped in Cheshire countryside

Cheshire Police said officers stopped an HGV adding about 35 tonnes of waste to the huge pile

A fly-tipped pile of about 200 tonnes of waste has been found by police at the end of a country lane.

Cheshire Police said it found dumping "on an industrial scale" in a rural area between Congleton and Macclesfield at about 18:20 BST on Tuesday.

It said on arrival, officers stopped a truck carrying about 35 tonnes of waste from adding to the huge pile.

A representative said its driver attended a police station "voluntarily" and was interviewed under caution.

They said the force's rural crime team had been working with the Environment Agency (EA) to tackle fly-tipping and officers had been sent to the location "following information they had received".

PC Rob Stordy said waste crime was "one of many crimes affecting our rural neighbours and the negative impact it has on the community should not be underestimated".

"Criminals are very much mistaken if they think it isn't an issue we take seriously," he said.

The EA's enforcement lead Jeni Brittlebank said while results such as the one on Tuesday "reflect the tough action we take, our work does not stop here".

"We are working in partnership across the North West to fight waste crime and bring those responsible to justice."