One of the directors of a recycling firm in Slack Lane, Derby that persistently breached its waste permit and triggered the widespread suffering of its neighbours by causing their homes and businesses to become filled with flies has been sentenced following a prosecution by the Environment Agency.

Warren Steele, 41 of Burnham Road, Doncaster, a director of Shows Waste Management Ltd, was given a Community Order with a requirement to carry out 80 hours unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay £10,000 towards the prosecution costs in a case heard at Derby Crown Court on Tuesday 17 March 2020.

Between the summer of 2015 and the summer of 2016, the company operated in breach of its permit by storing excessive amounts of inappropriate waste, which caused an adverse effect on the quality of life of people living nearby and on local businesses in the form of black flies and bad odour.

Large amounts of Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) waste was brought onto the site, shredded and stored in ways not permitted by their permit.

A request for a variation to the company’s permit to add RDF waste was turned down by the Environment Agency in October 2015. However, when officers visited the site they found the processing and storage of RDF had already begun. Other waste not permitted under the permit, including 200 tonnes of ground refrigerator foam in plastic bales, was also stored on site.

From November 2015 until April 2016, the Environment Agency received numerous reports of an increase in black flies in the area and complaints about odour.

On visiting the site, officers found that a number of permit restrictions had been breached: large numbers of baled RDF waste had been stored on site and were present for a number of weeks due to transport issues; there was shredding and trommelling of waste on site; and a large pile of waste steaming within the main building had been present for longer than the 48 hours allowed.

Officers worked with the operator of the site to ensure the bales of waste were removed and an insecticide would be used to combat the fly issue. A final visit by officers in August 2016 found all necessary waste had been removed and the site had been cleared.

Pete Haslock, Enforcement Team Leader at the Environment Agency, said:

We hope that this result will send a clear message to waste recycling operators that we will always take action to protect the environment and ensure that waste recycling companies are operating within their permit.

Numerous breaches of the permit held by Shows Waste Management were carried out between 2015 and 2016, which resulted in significant fly infestations and had a considerable impact on the local community. We received a significant number of complaints regarding large numbers of flies entering residents’ houses and businesses as well as odours emanating from the site.

We are actively targeting illegal waste activities across the country and urge all those seeking to become involved in the waste industry to ensure they have the appropriate permits and authorisations in place before commencing their operations.

Businesses and householders should carry out checks to ensure that they are using legitimate companies to deal with their waste. To check if a waste carrier is genuine visit: gov.uk

Anyone who suspects a company is operating illegally can call the Environment Agency 24/7 on 0800 80 70 60 or report it anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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The Chief Executive of the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), Eric Robinson has issued the following statement:

DBS recognises the vital role it has to play in responding to this national crisis. Employers within the healthcare profession are starting to recruit huge numbers of staff and volunteers to help them deal with the significant demand. The role of DBS is to ensure we provide those employers and voluntary organisations with adequate information, to enable them to make safer recruitment decisions.

Measures have been taken and systems put in place that will ensure we prioritise applications for DBS checks for those who are assisting in responding to this national emergency, making sure where possible, checks are carried out within 24 hours and also checking the Barred lists to make sure applicants are not already barred from working in regulated activity.

We will continue to work with the Home Office and other Government departments to provide them with as much support as possible and we believe with the measures we have taken, we will be in a position to meet the increase in demand for the foreseeable future.

KMG Promotions Limited was wound up in the public interest in the High Court in Manchester before Deputy District Judge Watkin on 23 March 2020. The Official Receiver has been appointed as the Liquidator.

In considering the petition, the court heard that KMG Promotions Ltd was incorporated in November 2016 and traded as a publisher with registered offices in the Wirral.

Since the company began trading, KMG Promotions Ltd self-published two different publications: Crime Awareness magazine, and Scorch, a fire-prevention magazine.

As a source of income, KMG Promotions Ltd offered prospective clients advertising space, on the understanding that a copy of the magazine was going to be sent to a police and fire station, local to the client. Prospective clients would also receive their own copy of the magazine they advertised in.

Clients, however, began to complain about KMG Promotions’ activities before the Insolvency Service conducted confidential enquiries into the company’s activities.

Investigators uncovered that 771 customers had paid for adverts. But only 340 adverts appeared in the magazines that were available to the investigators and the number of magazines printed were short of the client’s expectations.

Further enquiries found that the company made misleading claims to potential advertisers, including the volume of printing and distribution, KMG Promotions Ltd’s charitable status or not-for-profit business, as well as previous business relationships with the advertisers.

The company falsely informed clients they were calling from the real emergency services and also pursued advertisers using aggressive sales tactics.

Scott Crighton, Chief Investigator for the Insolvency Service, said:

As part of our enquiries, we spoke to KMG Promotions’ customers and none of them were satisfied with the level of service they received.

The company acted in an unscrupulous manner and thankfully the courts recognised the severity of their actions when they ordered for the publisher to be wound-up.

All public enquiries concerning the affairs of the company should be directed to the Office of the Official Receiver in Birkenhead, quoting LQD5840591, via: Birkenhead.OR@insolvency.gov.uk.

KMG Promotions Ltd (Company number: 10492837) was incorporated on 23 November 2016. The company’s registered office is at: 95 Greendale Road, Wirral, United Kingdom, CH62 4XE.

The petitions were presented under s124A of the Insolvency Act 1986 on 14 January 2020 at the High Court in Manchester.

Company Investigations, part of the Insolvency Service, uses powers under the Companies Act 1985 to conduct confidential fact-finding investigations into the activities of live limited companies in the UK on behalf of the Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS). Information about how to complain about a live company.

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