A huge waste site at the centre of enforcement action has been abandoned in Huddersfield.

Now council officers and the Environment Agency have launched an investigation into the site in Lockwood - described as “a stinking mess”.

And a local councillor who has led calls for tough action against the firm said it was imperative action was taken.

Clr Andrew Cooper said: “We’re working very hard to find out what has happened.”

Hunter Group have locked up and left their site in Queens Mill Road, Huddersfield.

Gates are padlocked and all the lorries which were parked up on the site have gone.

Hunter Group skip hire, Queen's Mill Road, Huddersfield, before the site was abandoned

Contractors were working at the site to move part of a huge mountain of waste and rubble which has been left behind.

The firm say they sold the business last month but would not say who had bought it.

It was revealed six months ago that the Hunter Group could face a criminal prosecution unless they clean up their act.

Both Kirklees Council and the Environment Agency are considering court action against skip hire company Hunter Group over the Lockwood site.

Excavators on the waste site off Queens Mill Lane, Huddersfield.

There have been numerous complaints about noise from the site, the stench from the waste, lorries illegally parking on Queens Mill Road and the refusal to collect skips sent out to homes.

Clr Cooper said: “I became aware at the end of last week that the company had moved out.

“We are told there are new owners but so far council officials have been unable to determine who they area.

“Many of the problems still remain as the mountain of rubbish left behind is a stinking mess.

“It is fair to say we are dealing here with a rogue company and it is imperative that the council officers and the Environment Agency get to the bottom of what is happening.

“The fact that a company can abandon the site in such a state is wrong, especially at a time when the council was contemplating legal action.

Excavators on the waste site off Queens Mill Lane, Huddersfield.

“There have been many complaints about this over the past 12 months and we will do what we can.”

A spokesman for the Hunter Group who have a site in Dewsbury said: “We sold the Huddersfield business in June and it’s not ours.

“I’m not prepared to say who the buyers were.”

Previously Hunter Group boss Sam Hunter told the Examiner the company was opening a further site in Barnsley which would reduce pressure on the Lockwood premises.

“We’ve got too big and we’re taking on too many contracts for the size of our yard,” he said. “We’ve become a victim of our own success.”