CLEANING up a former skip hire site on a Newport industrial estate could cost the taxpayer almost £2million, according to Environment Agency Wales.

Directors of Able Skips Hire Ltd, Barry Hermon, 68, of Parc Seymour, Penhow, and Dennis Morgan, 64, of Broad Street Common, Nash, Newport, were both sentenced to 10 months suspended for two years when they appeared at Cardiff Crown Court on Friday. Hermon was also given a 12-month supervision order, and Morgan ordered to complete 200 hours unpaid work.

Both men had previously pleaded guilty one count of treating, keeping, or disposing controlled waste on land in a manner likely to cause pollution of the environment or harm to human health, seven counts of consenting in the commission of an offence, three counts of failing to comply with a condition of a waste management licence, and three counts of failing to comply with a condition of a environmental permit.

The offences related to breaching a waste management licence granted to Able Skips Hire Ltd in 2004, permitting a maximum of 1,010 tonnes of mixed waste, with a maximum height of 2.5metres, to be stored at a site on Nash Mead Industrial Estate, close to Leeway Industrial Estate, Newport.

Able Skips Ltd has ceased trading since the two directors were charged, but the waste remains on the site. Environment Agency Wales estimates the cost of clearing the site would be just under £2million.

Graham Hiller, Environment Agency Wales area manager, said: “ This crime has had a direct impact on nearby businesses, has harmed the environment and undermined local waste operators who follow the rules.

"We have been working for sometime to find a way forward to clear this site, but it will be expensive, time consuming and will, more than likely, cost the taxpayer.”