Illegal dump becomes ‘symbol of north-south divide’ at heart of Makerfield byelection

Failure to clear up rotting, rat-infested site is a key issue for local people as they weigh up politicians’ promises

A mountain of rubbish sits behind a metal fence in the village of Bickershaw, where it has remained for more than 20 months. For many residents, it is a physical manifestation of the north-south divide as well as a rotting, rat-infested symbol of a broken system in which organised criminal gangs make millions while communities endure the toxic impact of their trade.

The 25,000 tonnes of household and trade rubbish is one of the largest toxic waste dumps in the country. Unlike many illegal dumps that appear in woodlands, by rivers and on farmland, this one is in the heart of a residential street, right next to a primary school.

It is an environmental and public health hazard. Last summer the dump was on fire for nine days, forcing the school to shut and imprisoning residents in their homes to escape the fumes.

In the final few days of campaigning for the Makerfield byelection , the mountain of rubbish at the end of Bolton House Road has become something of a touchstone for local people of the promises being made by candidates.

Its continued existence, a year and eight months after the first lorries were seen dumping waste back in October 2024, shows how the north has been forgotten and left behind, some residents say.

They compare the failure to clear up the waste to the swift response of the authorities when a mountain of illegally dumped waste was discovered in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, in the south of England, last year. Within weeks, after parliamentary interventions, the Environment Agency (EA) announced it would spend millions to clear up the dump, in a departure from its usual practice of pursuing the criminal gangs and forcing landowners to pay for the removal of rubbish on their land. The cleanup is now well under way.

“If you look at the Oxfordshire one, that got agreed to be tidied up relatively quickly, and that was due to it being a fire hazard,” said Nicha Rowson, a beautician who lives a few doors away from the Bickershaw dump. “Well, this has already been on fire, for nine days, so it’s a north and south divide yet again.”