Woman admits charges relating to Bradford tyre storage site

Vicky Bedford is the second person to admit charges stemming from the storage of tyres on Spring Mill Street on the edge of Bradford city centre.

Among the charges she admitted at Bradford Crown Court on Friday morning was that she allowed the storage of waste at the site “in a manner likely to cause harm to the environment or harm to human health.”

The former go karting site was being used to store a large number of waste tyres when, on November 16, 2020, a fire began that saw thousands of tyres burn for days.

The tyre fire sent smoke across parts of the city centre and Mill Lane Junction at the throat of Bradford Interchange (Image: T&A)

At its height, up to 100 firefighters from across West Yorkshire were at the scene and it took a week before the blaze was fully extinguished.

Vicky Bedford, 51 of Fairgrey Close, Ripon, was the director of Rotherham-based waste company Equalityre from June 2018 to February 2021.

She had been charged with offences relating to the Bradford site, and another tyre storage site - at Wright Business Park in Doncaster.

Appearing in the dock at Bradford Crown Court, a visibly upset Bedford pleaded guilty to

• Operating an unauthorised regulated facility at Spring Mill Street between May 11 2020 and April 8 2021.
• Keeping controlled waste, namely tyres, in a manner likely to cause pollution to the environment or harm to human health at Spring Mill Street, Bradford between May 11 2020 and April 8 2021
• Operating an unauthorised regulated facility at Wright Business Park in Doncaster between July 31 2019 and April 21 2021
• Keeping controlled waste, namely tyres, in a manner likely to cause pollution to the environment at Wright Business Park, Doncaster between July 31 2019 and April 21 2021

Stuart Bedford, 62, of Fairfax Avenue, Harrogate, pleaded guilty to the same four charges when he appeared in court in December.

Stuart Bedford (Image: newsquest)

He also pleaded guilty to the same charges on behalf of Equalityre.

The charges have been brought by the Environment Agency.

Stuart Bedford was present in the dock on Friday when Vicky Bedford made her pleas, and Judge Jonathan Gibson told the pair they would both be sentenced on June 10, along with the company.

Barristers representing the Environment Agency asked for a three-hour sentencing hearing on that date, and said the court would be given details of the “effect on the local community of one aspect of the offending.”