![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0_M-White-Skips-HSE.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe tip in Attercliffe includes 20,000 tonnes of waste<\/p>\n
The Sheffield tip run by M White Skips(Image: HSE)<\/p>\n
An illegal tip in Sheffield has been named among the worst in the country, with the taxpayer now set to foot the bill to clear it, the government has announced.<\/p>\n
The Department for Environment<\/a>, Food and Rural Affairs announced the Waste Crime Action Plan on Friday, March 20, committing an additional \u00a345 million for the Environment Agency to tackle waste crime over the next three years. This includes clearing “exceptional” illegal waste sites, such as in Sheffield<\/a>. Normally, landowners would pay for clearing waste, but the new government action means the taxpayer will foot the bill when “waste presents an untenable risk to the public and the environment”.<\/p>\n In these cases, the Environment Agency will seek criminal prosecution<\/a> and recover the costs of clearance.<\/p>\n The Worthing Road site in Attercliffe is one of four sites named by DEFRA as among “the worst illegal waste sites”. The industrial site, which is operated by M White Skips, has 20,000 tonnes of illegal waste. The Environment Agency said the site “posed a risk of serious pollution to the environment and serious harm to human health” during a court hearing in 2023.<\/p>\n Skips were dumped on the road outside the tip(Image: HSE)<\/p>\n M White Skips is awaiting trial for six charges, including two for operating a waste site without a permit, two for keeping, treating and disposing of waste, and two for burning waste. The company pleaded not guilty in May 2024, and the trial has been listed for January 3, 2028.<\/p>\n In March 2023, a district judge at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court issued a restriction order against the site accepting or managing waste<\/a>. This remains in place now. At the time, a \u00a317,199,48 fine was also issued, half against M White Skips and half against then director James White.<\/p>\n In January 2025, James White was handed an eight-month suspended prison sentence and fined \u00a365,000 for non-compliance with two prohibition notices and breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act and the Employers\u2019 Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969. HSE inspector Laura Hunter said full skips were deposited and stored on the road, while workers used the street to sort through rubbish once the site became inaccessible.<\/p>\n Email and online newsletter, The Sheffield Drop, highlights the very best news across the Steel City, regardless of the source.<\/p>\n Edited by Yorkshire Live’s Sheffield reporter Andrew Dowdeswell, the free bulletin has no adverts and features the city’s most important news, all curated in an easy-to-read, digestible format.<\/p>\n You can read The Sheffield Drop in two places – on our website, here<\/a>, or delivered straight to your email inbox by subscribing using this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n The government will start “on-site feasibility assessments” for the Sheffield tip, as well as two further sites in Wigan and Hyndburn.<\/p>\n DEFRA Secretary of State Emma Reynolds said: “Waste criminals have been damaging our communities, countryside, environment and economy for too long. This Action Plan sends a clear message: dump illegally, and you will face the full consequences. Waste criminals will be forced to join clean-up squads and made to pay for the clearing of illegal waste sites. We will give enforcement officers new police-style powers to bring offenders to justice.”<\/p>\n YorkshireLive has been unable to contact M White Skips for comment.<\/p>\n![\"Skips](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1_M-White-Skips-2-HSE.jpg\")
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