CCTV appeal after Lancashire waste dumping

Officers are investigating the deposit of around 75 tonnes of mixed commercial and household waste in the yard of a mill in Nelson the town.

The man the Environment Agency want to trace is described as white, approximately 5ft 9in tall, of a heavy build, with red hair. Footage shows him with a beard.

The Environment Agency believes the dumping was organised and deliberate. A total of five deposits were made during one afternoon and into the evening, using a wagon displaying cloned vehicle registration plates, a tactic that can be used to avoid detection.

Officers have already progressed a number of lines of enquiry and spoken to a person of interest.

CCTV image of a man the Environment Agency would like to speak to.

John Neville, Area Environment Manager for the Environment Agency, said:

This was a deliberate dumping of waste, and we believe it was planned using cloned number plates to help evade detection.

The landowner is facing clean-up costs and the mill sits in a residential area next to a canal, with local people having to live with the sight of this waste every day.

We are urging anyone who recognises the man in the images to come forward with information.

The landowner now faces clean-up costs amounting to thousands of pounds to ensure the waste, which was dumped on Sunday 15 February 2026, between 2pm and 6pm, is removed and disposed of at a legitimate waste facility.