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Kidlington dump fully cleared in £6m clean-up operation

Kidlington dump fully cleared in £6m clean-up operation
The Kidlington "waste mountain". Image credit: Environment Agency

More than 22,000 tonnes of waste has been removed from the illegal dump site near Kidlington, Oxfordshire.

The estimated 22,105 tonnes of commercial and household waste has been fully dug up and removed from the site, which included tyres, shredded plastic and household rubbish.

The Environment Agency (EA) first attended the illegal waste site located on land near the A34 in July 2025, and it shut down by officers in October.

Clean-up began in April 2026, following delays to the original expected start in February, carried out by Acumen Waste Services.

The operation has been estimated to cost approximately £6 million.

Concrete blocks have now been placed at the entrance to prevent access, while the main gate has been securely padlocked.

Environment Secretary Angela Eagle commented: “Communities deserve to be free from the blight of illegal waste dumping, and this clean-up shows we will bring hope back to local residents.

“After years of waste crime being allowed to fester, we are taking decisive action through our crackdown, and cleaning up sites like Kidlington is just one part.

“By putting more officers on the frontline and using drones to catch offenders in the act, we’re putting the criminal gangs on notice that there is nowhere left to hide.”

Philip Duffy, chief executive of the Environment Agency, said the agency was “very pleased” that the clearance had been completed.

He added that the EA had made a number of arrests as it continued to pursue those responsible for the waste crime.

He commented: “Dumping like this needs to be stopped in the first place.

“To do that we are going upstream, removing criminals and corruption from the waste system; improving the exchange of intelligence between agencies, and revoking the permits of those who do not take adequate care.”

The EA previously confirmed that four men arrested in connection with the site have been released but remain under criminal investigation.

They are a 39-year-old man from Guildford, a 69-year-old man arrested at a property in Andover, a 54-year-old man arrested in Slough and a 52-year-old man from Ashford, Surrey.

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