Dumping on Britain, at seven o'c;lock, follows the work of the Environment Agency's Special Enforcement Officers in Preston, Leeds and London as they track down and confront profiteers.
Tonnes of rubble and waste including asbestos, dumped up to two metres thick on what should have been a nature reserve, is the result of just one of the 'nightmare' scams used by illegal waste operators shown in the programme.
Other popular scams included are 'golf course construction’ and 'landscaping' projects which are just illegal dumping of construction and demolition waste, sometimes contaminated with asbestos or other hazardous substances.
The programme also looks at those running supposedly 'legitimate’ skip hire and other waste disposal businesses. The companies take payment for legitimate disposal but then dump the contents or burn it in a secluded spot.
Some illegal operators are also caught conning landowners by passing off construction and demolition waste as 'topsoil', and leaving them with the cost and worry of cleaning up.
Brian Hyams, special enforcement officer at the Environment Agency said: “Dumping is big business. Rubbish is expensive to deal with legally, which means there is potentially a big profit to be made by unscrupulous individuals prepared to break the law.
“We have come across offenders, for example, who we assess have made more than one million pounds from illegal waste disposal. Rubbish has become part of the new currency of crime,” he warned.
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