A CORNWALL-based liquid waste firm has been ordered to repay £600,000 after the Environment Agency uncovered years of illegal waste storage and disposal at a rural farm site.

Roger and Angela Smith, who operated R & A Cleansing Services from Ashwell Farm, near Coads Green, pleaded guilty to multiple offences at Truro Crown Court on January 30. The husband-and-wife partnership had been collecting liquid waste across Cornwall for more than 25 years.

Both defendants were handed 10-month prison sentences, suspended for two years, running concurrently. Under the Proceeds of Crime Act, the court ruled they must repay £600,000 – the amount judged to have been gained through their illegal activities. They were also ordered to pay £10,000 in prosecution costs and given 18 months to remediate the contaminated site.

The court heard that while R & A Cleansing Services was registered as a waste carrier, the business held no environmental permits or exemptions allowing waste to be stored, treated or disposed of at Ashwell Farm. Despite this, large volumes of untreated liquid waste were routinely handled on site.

The investigation began after the Environment Agency received an anonymous report on February 1, 2023, raising concerns that tankers of liquid waste were being illegally discharged and stored at the farm. When officers attended, Angela Smith claimed waste was only being stored in underground tanks and not disposed of on site.

However, inspections painted a very different picture. Officers found multiple underground tanks of unknown condition, two separate pools of heavily polluted water, tanker pipes lying loose on the ground, piles of mixed domestic and construction waste, and evidence of waste being burned.

In a field south of the site, an access track was coated in thick sludge. A tanker pipe was discovered draining directly into the field entrance, strongly indicating waste was being discharged onto agricultural land owned by the defendants.

The Smiths were told to cease immediately storing and disposing of waste on site.

Further investigation revealed the business had been collecting a range of hazardous and non-hazardous waste, including septic tank sludge, effluent treatment waste and animal tissue waste such as blood. Waste Transfer Notes were found to be consistently incomplete or incorrect, missing essential details such as quantities, disposal locations, dates and accurate waste codes.

In March 2023, the Environment Agency served a legal notice demanding documentation relating to the purchase, installation and safety of the underground storage tanks. No records were forthcoming.

Sally Turberville, an enforcement officer with the Environment Agency, said: “Waste criminals should be aware how seriously we take their offending, including the financial benefit they obtain from their illegal activities.

“It was concerning that large quantities of untreated mixed liquid wastes were stored illegally in unserviceable underground tanks and open pits.

“Waste was discharged straight onto the agricultural ground owned by the defendants and after more than 25 years in the waste collection business, they should have been fully aware of the regulations. As the business grew, there was no investment in appropriate equipment or infrastructure, no application made for an environmental permit.”