No Action Against 7-week Blaze Firm

14 September 2011, 12:16

A 5-day trial underway this week against a Littleport Tyre Recycling Facility, has collapsed after "evidence" provided by the authorities was dismissed.

In August 2009, a major fire at the site began on a large pile of rubber, which burned for seven weeks and created dramatic plumes of smoke which could be seen for miles over the skies of Cambridgeshire.

Subsequently, Murfitts Industries of Lakenheath, the company responsible for the site where the blaze began at Wisbech Road in Littleport told Heart it wasn't responsible for the fire and denied the official charge of "causing pollution or harm to people’s health and the environment".

The case was brought by the Environment Agency and a 5-day trial was due to begin on Monday, adjourned until Tuesday morning after Murfitts pleaded not guilty to keeping, treating and or disposing controlled waste.

A series of legal arguments between lawyers on both sides lead to the abrupt end of the trial, with the arguments and evidence being submitted by the Environment Agency being ruled "inadmissible" in the case, effectively meaning the EA could offer no evidence against Murfitts.

A "not guilty verdict" was recorded despite no official trial taking place.