Melksham scrapyard banned from buying metal
5:00pm Sunday 12th February 2012 in Latest News By Chris Melvin
Police remove cabling from skips at the Melksham scrapyard site during raids last week
A scrapyard in Melksham has been banned from buying any more metal following a police raid last week.
Melksham Metal Recycling and three other scrapyards – in Trowbridge, Christian Malford and Swindon – were raided by police, working in conjunction with other agencies, on Monday last week.
The swoops were part of a crackdown on metal thefts.
Large quantities of suspected stolen metal were seized and 10 people were arrested, both on and off the sites, for a variety of offences.
At the Melksham Metal Recycling site, in Station Approach, officers from the Environment Agency discovered a number of permit violations.
The company was served with two notices under the Environmental Protection Act, ordering the company to remove waste from areas where it should not have been stored and banning the firm from accepting any more scrap metal.
The company can still operate its car stripping and skip hire sides of the business, but will have to re-apply for a permit to accept any more scrap metal.
An Environment Agency spokesman said: “There is an ongoing investigation, looking at possible breaches of the hazardous waste and environmental protection regulations, which could result in further enforcement action, including prosecutions.”
Melksham Metal Recycling declined to comment on the ban.
Of the 10 people arrested last week, one, arrested in Swindon, has been released with no further action being taken.
A 27-year-old man, arrested at Christian Malford, accepted a caution.
The remaining eight people have been released on bail while police continue their investigations.
Three men, aged 49, 33 and 31, who were arrested in Trowbridge as part of last week’s operation were not on EJ Shanley Skip Hire’s premises and were not employed by the firm.
* A Trowbridge man has pleaded guilty to two counts of metal theft.
Shane Gulliver, 33, of Queens Road, admitted the thefts of radiators when he appeared at Swindon Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday. He was arrested on Monday after being stopped by police in Canal Road. The radiators were found in his car. He will be sentenced by magistrates on March 2.
A second man, Anthony Clacher, 30, of Portway Lane, Warminster, pleaded not guilty to theft and will be tried at North West Wiltshire Magistrates’ Court on April 18.
