Braintree waste operator faces jail over unsafe yard

A skip-hire business owner near Braintree has received a six-month suspended prison sentence after repeatedly failing to clear an unpermitted waste site that officials said posed environmental, health and fire risks.

Roy Brett, 66, was ordered to remove all waste from the yard at Lanham Green Road in Cressing by November. His prison term was suspended for 18 months, meaning he could face custody if he commits another offence or fails to clear the site.

Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court also ordered Brett to complete 30 days of rehabilitation activities and pay a £154 victim surcharge. His company, RJ Brett Contracts Ltd, was fined £3,000 and must pay a £1,200 victim surcharge after admitting environmental offences.

Waste filled almost 50 skips at the Cressing site

The Environment Agency began investigating the yard in July 2024. Officers initially found more than a dozen skips overflowing with waste and gave the operator three months to remove it.

When officers returned after that deadline, the site had not improved. By early 2025, the yard contained almost 50 skips, with some stacked on top of others. Wood, metal, textiles, builders’ rubbish and soil were also stored around the site, including directly on the ground.

Officials said little free space remained and reported problems with smells. The exposed yard had no sealed drainage, while the volume and arrangement of combustible material created a fire risk. Essex Fire and Rescue Service also raised concerns and instructed Brett to tidy the site and stop accepting waste capable of starting a fire.

Chair of the bench Andrew McGregor said the operation posed “multiple risks to the environment and human safety, including by fire.”

Repeated warnings followed by prosecution

Brett claimed that he had missed written directions because he did not use email. The Environment Agency said officers had also warned him in person and that he continued operating despite repeated instructions to remove the waste.

The business did not hold the environmental permit required to manage the yard. Brett registered exemptions intended for low-risk waste activities, but the Environment Agency removed them after the site accepted more waste than those exemptions allowed.

RJ Brett Contracts Ltd admitted offences covering its operation of the waste facility without a permit between July 2024 and January 2026. The company was also prosecuted for failing to comply with a November 2024 notice requiring waste to be removed by January 2025 and for storing controlled waste in a way likely to cause pollution or harm to human health.

Brett admitted corresponding offences based on his knowledge of, or contribution to, the company’s conduct.

Lesley Robertson, the Environment Agency’s enforcement team leader for Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk, said it was not credible for an experienced operator and director of three other waste companies to claim that he misunderstood the permit requirement. She said avoiding permit and subsistence fees had allowed the operation to undercut competitors while evading conditions intended to protect the environment.

November deadline determines the next legal step

The sentencing leaves Brett under an immediate obligation to clear the Cressing yard. The suspended term remains in force for 18 months, with failure to remove the waste by November identified as one circumstance that could put him at risk of serving the prison sentence.

Residents and businesses can check the Environment Agency’s public register to establish whether an operator holds an environmental permit for activities capable of harming the environment. The next confirmed milestone in this case is the November clearance deadline imposed on Brett.

Source: Environment Agency News