The operator of the site of a devastating fire in Bradford is to appear in court accused of failing to remove waste tyres from the land.

The Environment Agency has confirmed what action it is taking over the Spring Mill Street operation, which saw hundreds of thousands of tyres burning for days a year ago.

It follows the unnamed operator being served an enforcement notice earlier this year after failing to clear the remaining mounds of tyres from the land.

After failing to comply with the notice which required the removal of the waste tyres, the operator has now been summoned to appear in court. The case is expected to be heard at Bradford Magistrates' Court on November 30.

The Spring Mill Street fire, involving hundreds of thousands of tyres burning for days, started on November 16, 2020. At its height up to 100 firefighters were at the scene and it took a week before it was completely extinguished.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: The site of the major scrap tyre fire on Spring Mill Street in Bradford in November 2020, the day the fire was confirmed as being outThe site of the major scrap tyre fire on Spring Mill Street in Bradford in November 2020, the day the fire was confirmed as being out

Officers at the Environment Agency had earlier confirmed that they launched an investigation into the suspected illegal storage of waste tyres at the old go-karting site near Manchester Road the summer before the fire broke out after receiving complaints.

They visited the site and issued a first enforcement notice a month before the November blaze broke out last year.

After the fire the Environment Agency then issued a second enforcement notice, this time on the land owner, ordering the waste be removed from the site.

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: "At Spring Mill Street in Bradford, the Environment Agency continues to investigate the storage of waste tyres at the site. In the meantime, the operator has been summoned to appear in court on 30 November for failing to comply with an Environment Agency enforcement notice requiring the removal of waste tyres."

It added: "In the year since the devastating fire at Spring Mill Street in Bradford, the Environment Agency has, with its partners in the fire and rescue services, conducted a thorough review of high risk waste sites across the county to ensure operators are compliant with their environmental obligations. This is to confirm that preventative action is taken, wherever appropriate, to guard against the possibility of fire."

Three people arrested in connection with the fire were later released without charge.

At the time police said its investigation had progressed as far as it could for the time being.

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