Cornwall developer is ordered to clear 25,000 TONNES of waste he illegally dumped near Newquay

Published 28 October 2026, 15:55

• Paul Stephens, 58, received a suspended sentence and was put under 7pm curfew
• after an Environment Agency prosecution
• Officers found a 30-metre heap of mattresses, asbestos and bagged rubbish piled straight onto bare earth
• Waste Minister Emma Hardy branded it 'an outrageous case of illegal dumping' as his firm is fined £90,000

A Cornwall developer has been placed under a four-month 7pm-7am curfew and ordered to clear at least 25,000 tonnes of waste he illegally dumped near Newquay, the Environment Agency announced in a government press release.

Paul Stephens, 58, of Malpas, Truro, was sentenced to 13 months' imprisonment suspended for two years after depositing the waste on land at Hendra Croft, Scotland Road.

Alongside the suspended term and curfew, Stephens must complete 180 hours of unpaid work, was disqualified from acting as a company director for four years, and has a 12-month deadline to remove the waste from the site.

Stephens, director of Park Lane Financial Management Limited, pleaded guilty to the illegal deposit of waste and the burning of waste, the Environment Agency said.

His company pleaded guilty to three environmental offences committed between November 2018 and July 2025 — two for operating an illegal waste site and one for burning waste.

Park Lane Financial Management Limited was fined a total of £90,000, and the prosecution requested that three other counts lie on file.

During a site inspection in 2023, officers found a 30-metre-long mound of waste sitting on unprotected soil, with bin bags of household rubbish among it — a situation that allowed polluting substances to leach straight into the ground and reach the water table.

The rubbish, which comprised mattresses, electrical waste and asbestos, was deemed to pose a risk of environmental pollution and damage to human health, according to the press release.

Excavation work carried out by contractors during the investigation uncovered substantial amounts of construction and demolition debris buried at the site, among it plastics, wood and metal.

Waste Minister Emma Hardy said: "This is an outrageous case of illegal dumping, orchestrated by an individual who had no regard for the local community in Cornwall."

"We are targeting the perpetrators that fuel waste crime, making over 30 arrests since April. This verdict sends a clear message to criminals that they have nowhere to hide," she added.

Tim De Winton, Environment Agency area environment manager, said: "This is a case where waste was deliberately dumped, buried, and burned, with little regard for the impact on the environment."

The verdict, he said, "is a signal to illegal businesses – we will not let you get away with ignoring the rules which protect people, the environment, and legitimate business."

The charges said the company operated a regulated facility without an environmental permit by depositing waste including metal, plastic, mattresses, electric waste, household and construction waste, and by conducting open-air burning of waste materials other than plant tissue and untreated wood, under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 and the Environmental Protection Act 1990 — the latter covering hazardous waste including asbestos-containing materials.

The case comes as the Environment Agency continues tackling waste crime through the government's Waste Crime Action Plan and the agency's 10 Point Plan, with the public urged to report suspected waste crime to its 24/7 hotline on 0800 80 70 60 or anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.