Cornwall developer is put under a 7pm curfew and is ordered to clear 25,000 tonnes of waste he dumped, buried and burned

Developer Paul Stephens, 58, has been placed under a four-month 7pm-7am curfew and given 12 months to clear at least 25,000 tonnes of waste he illegally dumped at Hendra Croft, near Newquay. Environment Agency officers in 2023 found a 30-metre mound of mattresses, electrical waste, asbestos and bagged household rubbish piled on bare soil, letting pollutants leach into the water table, while contractors later dug up buried plastics, wood and metal.

Stephens also faces 180 hours' unpaid work and a four-year ban from acting as company director.

'Deliberately dumped, buried, and burned,' said Environment Agency manager Tim De Winton of the site's waste.

Offences ran from November 2018 to July 2025, with Hardy claiming over 30 waste-crime arrests since April.