Farmer recieves suspended sentence for spreading contaminated compost

Leicestershire farmer given a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to charges related to spreading contaminated compost containing plastics, metals, and textiles over his land.

The Environment Agency launched an investigation into William David Clarke, 54, and Soars Lodge Farm after nearby residents complained about large quantities of litter. After complaints were lodged, the regulator conducted an audit of the composting and land spreading operations at the farm, which were regulated by environmental permits. The permits allowed the composting of green waste and untreated wood and the spreading of the resulting compost, providing it met quality standards.

However, the Environment Agency found the compost was heavily contaminated with plastics, metal, textiles, rubber and treated wood. Soars Lodge Farm received green waste from kerbside collections and household waste and recycling centres (HWRCs), as well as tree surgeons and gardening businesses. Clarke also accepted unauthorised waste types, such as treated wood, including wood coated in plastic, and wood treated with paint and preservatives.

The waste from the kerbside collections and HWRCs was contaminated with black bin bag waste, flower pots and other materials. The court was told that litter pollution from the composting was so bad that field boundaries, hedgerows and ditches looked like motorway verges. Environment Agency officers reported lambs chewing fragments of waste textiles on one of the illegal compost stockpiles.

Judge grants remediation order

Clarke was sentenced to nine weeks in prison, suspended for a year, after pleading guilty to five charges.

Following sentencing, the judge granted a remediation order that required Clarke to clean up the site by noon on 12 December 2027. In mitigation, Clarke denied running the site and blamed his late father, David Clarke, who owned Soars Lodge Farm and was joint holder of both environmental permits with him. However, the judge disagreed and found that William Clarke was in day-to-day control of the composting operations.

At Leicester Magistrates' Court on Thursday 12 December 2024, William David Clarke, 54, was found guilty on five charges. Iain Regan, Environment Agency Senior Environmental Crime Officer, commented: "We encourage the proper treatment and recycling of green waste where this has environmental benefits, such as by adding nutrients and improving soil structure. "But where wastes which aren't suitable are treated and spread, as in this case, this can cause pollution and damage to wildlife.

"The defendant ignored our concerns and refused to act on the extensive advice we gave him to improve his operation, and that has resulted in these convictions."