TENANTS fear hundreds of rats will invade their homes as they flee from a waste-sorting site which has been on fire since Sunday.
Those living near the waste transfer station in Ravensthorpe have seen the rats, said to be ‘as big as cats’, running up their streets and into their gardens, according to one local councillor.
Clr Khizar Iqbal said: “I have been inundated with calls from local residents who have expressed deep concern and distress at this fire and the consequences of the damage caused.
“The main areas of concern are the potential toxic fumes escaping from the site and the number of rats that have tried to escape from this fire.
“The fire officers on the scene and local residents have stated that several hundred rats have fled into nearby residential areas and some of these rats were as big a cats.”
The Environment Agency has ordered Roy Hinchcliffe, who runs the site on Ravenswharf Road, to clear the 200-metre tip immediately.
Meanwhile, firefighters are still battling to control the fire which broke out last Sunday.
Crews feared they could be at the site for another two weeks as they scramble over hazardous waste to put the blaze out.
A spokesman for the Environment Agency said: “We believe the site has double the amount of rubbish it is supposed to.
“It is the manager’s responsibility to clear that excess waste and reduce it back down to 700 tonnes.
“He has six weeks from February 1 when we issued the enforcement notice to bring the amount of waste back down to permitted levels.”
Mr Hinchcliffe, who runs the business called Hinchcliffe Bros, was fined £1,000 over the state of the site last year.
The fire is deep within the 30ft mound of debris.
The transfer station is supposed to be a place where rubbish is sorted before it is taken away.
It backs on to the River Calder and the Spen Valley Greenway which has now been closed to the public.
Dewsbury South councillor Iqbal said the over-filling of the site was “environmental vandalism.”
He said: “I am absolutely staggered and outraged at the extent of the damage and the scale of the environmental vandalism that this fire has caused.
“I have never seen such a scene of devastation in my 12 years as a local councillor – the site is an absolute disgrace.”
Clr Iqbal said “serious questions” now needed to be asked about the role of Kirklees Council in dealing with the site and its owner.
Last year Kirklees Council prosecuted Mr and Mrs Hinchcliffe, of Mirfield, for breaching planning conditions at the site, despite repeated warnings.
They were said to have ignored a notice requiring the removal of all obstructions within the lower yard area of the site within a month.
Dewsbury magistrates imposed a fine of £1,000 on each of the defendants, required each to pay £300 towards the council’s costs and imposed a £15 victim surcharge on each defendant.
Mr Hinchcliffe has declined to comment.
