A FARMER who has consistently ignored environmental protection laws has appeared in court again.

John Leslie Allison, 73, appeared before Burnley magistrates after failing to clear waste from land he controls and part-owns off Southfield Lane, Colne, in breach of a court order.

Allison, of Southfield Lane, Colne, was fined £500 and told that he still had to remedy the site.

Magistrates were told that an inspection on July 6 found that Allison failed to take any or adequate steps to remove waste from the field in breach of the order made by the same court in April.

Allison had pleaded guilty to operating an illegal waste site between August 2017 and November 2017. He brought waste onto the land and deposited it in an area of the field covered in reeds and some of the deposited waste had been disposed of by burning,

Sites accepting waste for disposal or recovery are regulated facilities and need an environmental permit.

Allison did not hold a permit authorising any type of waste operation on the land off Southfield Lane and the activity had continued despite a number of verbal and written warnings from Environment Agency officers and a formal notice requiring him to clear waste from the land.

A spokesman for the EA said: “Waste crime is a serious offence, which can damage the environment, undermine legitimate business and cause misery for local residents.

“The Environment Agency is determined to make life hard for criminals. Our specialist crime unit uses intelligence to track and prosecute those involved in illegal waste activity and we rely on information from the public to bring those responsible to justice.”