THURROCK Council has vowed to take legal action after finding names and addresses of companies amid the 1,000 metre-long waste pile in Purfleet.

The Gazette can reveal how the waste came to be dumped at the riverside site, opposite Purfleet rail station.

As staff sifted through the rubbish, the majority of which appears to be builders’ rubble, the council readied itself for the clean-up costs.

Travellers, who the council were in the process of removing, occupied a small part of the site during that time.

Graham Farrant, the chief executive of the council, believes the waste was carted in vanloads to the site from areas, including East London. Residents didn’t raise the alarm, as they thought the vans were driven by council staff.

A sign was placed on the access gate which asked motorists not to block the gates, as "24/7 access" was needed by "Thurrock Council". 

Mr Farrant said: “The vast majority of the rubbish is builders’ rubble and waste wood, but we have found some paperwork with names and addresses.

“We will be approaching these people and inviting them in for interviews, probably under caution. Everyone has a duty to ensure that their own waste is disposed of in the right way.”

Jackie Doyle-Price, the MP for Thurrock, has levelled criticism at the police and crime commissioner Nick Alston over how the force deals with traveller encampments.

She said: "It is quite clear that this is a serious organised criminal activity and police really should have taken action sooner to stop it getting this significant. The cost of this to clear up, £1million to Thurrock Council taxpayers, just isn’t acceptable when the powers exist to take action."

But Mr Alston, called the fly-tipping “disgraceful” and fully backed the council’s ongoing investigation.

He said: "I disagree with the suggestion that Essex Police is failing to act where problems or crime arises as a result of illegal traveller sites – this is simply not the case and the circumstances are often much more complex than they appear.

"It would be completely misleading to suggest that police can act instantly to remove travellers. In my role as Police and Crime Commissioner for Essex, I have no powers at all to authorise the removal of travellers or direct the police to do so.

"However it forms part of my role to ensure the force continues to operate proportionately and within the law with regard to unlawful traveller encampments or in any other matter. That said of course I expect Essex Police to act against illegal traveller sites when it is right and necessary to do so, and this happens frequently around the county. It is of course a county wide issue.

"Thurrock Council has my full support in investigating the completely unacceptable flytipping which has occurred at Cory’s Wharf. The dumping there is utterly disgraceful and I hope that all endeavours are made by the responsible authorities, which are the local council and the environment agency, to prosecute those behind it.

"I would be only too happy to meet with Thurrock MP Jackie Doyle-Price to discuss the issue of unlawful traveller encampments in Thurrock and Essex."