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You can change your cookie settings at any time Freedom of Information releases and corporate reports Operators of a quarry near Stevenage have been given prison sentences after storing and burying enough illegal waste to fill the Royal Albert Hall nearly 3 times over The Environment Agency prosecuted former teacher Liam Winters and his brother for the unlawful disposal of large quantities of household and business waste at Codicote Quarry Liam Winters was handed a 17-month prison term by St Albans crown court The court also banned the brothers as company directors for 8 years Judge Caroline Wigin heard Codicote Quarry had a permit to treat and store a small amount of soil waste but not hold it in huge quantities The quarry went beyond what was authorised by the Environment Agency The suspect material was predominately household at least 200,000 cubic metres of banned and potentially harmful material showed a flagrant disregard for the law and the effect of their business on the environment Prison for two brothers after the quarry they ran broke environmental law must serve as a warning to others doing the same The illegal disposal means the site will need monitoring for many years to minimise risk of polluting the River Mimram and groundwater sources as the quarry was not set up for landfill environment manager for the Environment Agency in Hertfordshire We hope that prison for Liam Winters and a suspended term for Mark Winters sends out a strong message that we will prosecute waste site operators who do not follow the rules for disposal The operation of an illegal waste site without regard for the environment and the law has the potential to harm our natural resources blight communities and undermine the legitimate businesses who do stick to the law Our role is to protect the environment for people and wildlife so we won’t hesitate to act against those who put either at risk our message is clear: you won’t get away with it Officers from the Environment Agency questioned the brothers in 2017 about the amount of waste the quarry was holding With support from Hertfordshire County Council countless on-site checks followed to get the operators to comply with the law but the waste piles grew and began to decompose with the quarry holding so much illegal and contaminated waste the Environment Agency suspended the site’s permit Officers later issued 2 notices aimed at getting the waste removed but the men appeared to show no regard for authority and none of it was taken away Liam Winters’ prison sentence also relates to illegal waste storage at 2 more locations in Hertfordshire The 46-year-old, of High Street, Hillmorton, Rugby, and a third man, Nicholas Bramwell, admitted allowing plastic, wood, metal, packaging and soil to be buried illegally: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/directors-oversaw-harmful-waste-stored-in-landfill while material at Nuthampstead shooting ground was hidden under a landscaped area was fined £1,450 in June last year and ordered to pay £8,000 towards the Environment Agency’s costs and a victim surcharge of £120 but living at Bangor Erris in County Mayo when he surrendered will also have to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work At separate hearings in February this year the brothers admitted four identical charges amounting to allowing or being involved in accepting waste and storing it at Codicote Quarry between January 2015 and November 2017 This was either outside the conditions of the site’s Environment Agency’s permit They were also charged for ignoring the suspension notice to stop operations The Environment Agency prosecuted the pair under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 and the Environmental Protection Act 1990 it was decided that any award of costs or a confiscation order against the men and Codicote Quarry Ltd will be considered at a later date Don’t include personal or financial information like your National Insurance number or credit card details A Costcutter in Hertfordshire celebrated its 181st year as a convenience store this week The Costcutter in Codicote has had a new look and refit with the tape being cut by 1980s pop star and local resident Kim Wilde (pictured above She was accompanied by Tony Lutkin (second left) The shop was first opened by Joseph Robarts in 1841 and has been at the heart of the community ever since Many of the team have been working at the store for more than 30 years The revamp means there is now an extensive range of beers There is also a delicatessen with a range of cheeses a bean-to-cup coffee machine and a slush machine have been installed Chamberlin said: “We were delighted that Kim Wilde was able to join us and carry out the formal opening of our revamped store “It’s taken lots of hard work to get to where we are and it was wonderful to celebrate the opening with many of our loyal customers and hopefully we will attract new customers too.” Chamberlin has just signed up to another five years with 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