Sheffield warehouse owner left with £500k dumping bill

Image captionMore than 200 lorries dumped this rubbish into the warehouse, according to its owner

A warehouse owner could face a £500,000 bill after tonnes of building waste were crammed into his premises by a company that then disappeared.

Giles Norton leased out his Sheffield warehouse to a company that said it was a pallet-recycling business.

In about five days more than 200 lorries dumped rubbish in the warehouse, Mr Norton claimed.

Mr Norton told the BBC he had already spent £250,000 on removing about half of the rubbish

He said: "This is filling warehouses Jenga-style on a commercial scale with commercial building waste".

The city centre warehouse cannot be let, Mr Norton said, due to the damage caused by the fly-tippers.

Image captionRubbish was placed on top of an office, causing it to collapse

Mr Norton said: "It's bowed every single wall out and they've even taken supporting walls out."

It had left the warehouse "uneconomic to repair", he said.

The waste was mainly made up of plastics but covered a "multitude of items" and included about 8,000 plastic-wrapped bales.

"Being the owner I've got to pay for it" while the tippers "just do a runner", he said.

Image captionThe extent of the damage to the warehouse means it cannot be let, Mr Norton said

Mr Norton was approached by WT Roadways Ltd in 2015 and agreed a two-year lease.

The company was later dissolved.

Mr Norton said he had passed details of the company that hired the building to the police and the Environment Agency.

South Yorkshire Police said it was a breach of contract and a civil matter to be dealt with by the Environment Agency.

The Environment Agency said it could not comment on the case for legal reasons.

"Nobody wants to comment, this is my problem", Mr Norton said.

"Why isn't anybody prosecuting my case?"