Officials accused of 'failing' to tell Lords about three large-scale illegal waste sites

Environment Agency bosses have been accused of "failing" to tell a cross-party committee of peers about three large-scale illegal waste sites - including one that was recently exposed by Sky News.  Our investigation into waste crime in Wigan heard from residents who repeatedly complained to the Environment Agency that 20 to 30 lorries a day drove down their street last winter and dumped industrial amounts of waste.

The rubbish now sits at a staggering 25,000 tonnes. It burnt for nine days in July, and has seen local homes infested with rats and flies.

Since then, a similarly sized site in Kidlington near the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire sparked national outrage. One man has been arrested in connection with the dumping.

Despite the scale of these two locations - which were well known to the Environment Agency - it neglected to name them when asked by the Lord's Environment Committee's inquiry into waste crime how many "significant" sites there were around the country. Phil Davies and Steve Molyneux of the Environment Agency gave evidence on 17 September.

Just six sites were cited, but three more have been exposed in the past few weeks alone. These are Wigan, Kidlington and a mound of dumped waste in Wadborough.

Now, the Lords are worried there are more environmentally destructive locations the public aren't aware of. Read more:A community plagued by 25,000 tonnes of illegal wasteUrgent action needed to stop fly-tipping by gangs, peers say In a letter to the EA's chair Alan Lovell and chief executive Philip Duffy, Baroness Sheehan, chair of the Environment and Climate Change Committee, said: "We are increasingly concerned that there may be other sites of a similarly large and environmentally damaging scale." She asked how much progress has been made to remove waste from the various sites, why restriction notices in places like Wigan weren't served sooner - and for a full list of other sites of a similar size.

Baroness Sheehan also expressed her "disappointment" that these three new locations "were not deemed necessary to bring to the committee's attention.