Brierley Hill rubbish pile is being trimmed down

D-Day arrived today for a waste recycling firm to cut the height of a 40ft mountain of rubbish towering over Brierley Hill homes.

Diggers started removing waste from the pile over the last two or three days but it still dwarfed some nearby homes.

The pile has blighted lives of people living near to Refuse Derived Fuel Ltd (RDF), Moor Street, for months, with complaints of smells and that the site is eyesore.

RDF, which shreds and dries solid waste, turning household rubbish and industrial refuse into fuel, was given until tonight by the Environment Agency to cut the height to 26ft or face further court action.

The agency applied for an injunction to the High Court in Birmingham in May to stop more waste going to the site. However, an agreement was reached before the hearing that the pile would be cut by midnight today.

Resident mother-of-two Michelle Davis, aged 28, said: "It is still quite high and visible from our bedroom windows but it looks as if they are at least trying to do something about it.

"Noisy land movers have been moving some of the rubbish this morning because we heard them when we woke up."

Rob McNaughton, managing director of RDF, today refused to comment upon the latest situation and how quickly the pile would be reduced. The Environment Agency also declined to comment in advance of a new hearing, scheduled for Monday, when officials are due to give an update to the High Court in Birmingham.

Before last month's court hearing, personal details of around 22 people who complained about the firm were mistakenly sent to the firm by the Environment Agency.

Agency officials said later that they had called each individual to apologise that their names, addresses and telephone numbers had not been removed from documents handed to RDF and its directors.