ENVIRONMENT Agency officers are warning warehouse owners to be on their guard after discovering about 30,000 tyres dumped illegally in Colchester.The tyres were discovered covering the floor of a warehouse on Hythe Quay to a depth of three metres on Wednesday.

By Sharon Asplin

ENVIRONMENT Agency officers are warning warehouse owners to be on their guard after discovering about 30,000 tyres dumped illegally in Colchester.

The tyres were discovered covering the floor of a warehouse on Hythe Quay to a depth of three metres on Wednesday. Their disposal will cost the owner thousands of pounds.

John Parish, a spokesman for the Environment Agency, said: “Both the letting agent and ourselves had become suspicious about the warehouse. When we visited it, we were shocked to find so many tyres.”

The 7,800-sq ft warehouse was thought to be empty by its owner. In the process of negotiating a new lease, the owner had allowed a prospective tenant to inspect the warehouse and it is believed the tenant then started advertising in the area to take away waste tyres.

The agency believes tyres from many local businesses may have ended up in the warehouse. The letting agent has since been unable to contact the prospective tenant.

Mr Parish added: “We're warning owners of warehouses that they too could face this type of problem. Owners of empty warehouses should make sure they have good security measures in place and that their property is regularly checked.

“It doesn't take long for thousands of tyres to be dumped and the clean-up cost can be enormous.

“If you have waste tyres and anyone comes knocking on your door offering to take them away at a really good price, be very suspicious and check their details with us. There are plenty of good, legitimate operators out there who do a good job of dealing with waste tyres.”

The Environment Agency now is working to trace the people responsible for the dumping and is anxious to speak to anyone with information about them.

sharon.asplin@eadt.co.uk