PM Andy Burnham welcomes arrest of four men in probe into huge illegal dump in Wigan

The Bolton House Road site in Bickershaw has caused misery for local residents with reports of horrid smells, while a week-long fire caused nearby schools to close last summer.

Police officers from Greater Manchester, Lancashire and West Yorkshire, working to support the Environment Agency, secured the arrests of the suspects for environmental, fraud and money laundering offences.

Two men from Wigan, aged 35 and 41, along with a 24-year-old man from Leeds and a 59-year-old man from Liverpool have been arrested.

The man from Leeds was also arrested in connection with dumping waste at Cave's Inn Pits site of special scientific interest (SSSI) near Shawell in Leicestershire.

The Environment Agency’s investigation is being led by its national environmental crime unit.

Sue Longstone, director of operations for the North at the Environment Agency, said: "The illegal dumping at Bolton House Road and Cave's Inn Pits are atrocious attacks on our communities, and we share the public's utter disgust at these horrendous crimes.

"Our teams have been working relentlessly on these investigations, and our arrests are a vital step in collecting new evidence and progressing it further."

Prime minister and Makerfield MP Andy Burnham said: "I have stood on Bolton House Road and seen what local people have had to live with. It is shocking – an ocean of rubbish piled up next to a primary school and families unable to escape the smell in their own homes.

“This is not fly tipping. This is organised crime and it is local communities that are paying the price.

“For too long, this issue has been ignored. But not on my watch. Today's action by the Environment Agency and the police is just the start of our plans. The days of making easy money from waste are over.”

Environment secretary Dame Angela Eagle said: "The appalling dumping of waste at Bolton House Road and Cave's Inn Pits represents a blatant disregard for local communities and the environment.

"Tackling waste crime is one of my top priorities, and these arrests mark an important step in delivering justice for residents in Wigan and Shawell.”

In May, a 58-year-old man from the Birmingham area was arrested for illegal dumping of waste at the Bolton House Road site.

The Government has announced it will directly fund the clean-up of the site.

Working with Wigan Council, a process is now under way to recruit a specialist contractor to manage the clean-up operation.

Action has been already taken to ensure no additional waste is dumped illegally there, including depositing concrete blocks at the entrance of the site by the local authority.

At Cave's Inn Pits in Leicestershire, waste criminals dumped 30,000 tonnes of shredded waste in layers with soil used to cover it.

Alongside the ongoing criminal investigation, the Environment Agency is assessing the waste to ensure there are no further environmental impacts, as well as monitoring local air and water quality.