Money paid by three companies caught illegally dumping waste near Grantham is now funding nature recovery across Lincolnshire.

The firms deposited construction and demolition waste without authorisation at Hook Cliff Farm, Gonerby Moor, between June 2020 and April 2022. The Environment Agency secured a total of £168,000 in payments from companies responsible for waste and water offences across Lincolnshire, with three firms specifically linked to the Grantham site.

Companies and payments

Bowring Transport Limited, based in Warsop, Nottinghamshire, paid £60,000. Construction & Environmental Services Limited, of St Ives, Cambridgeshire, paid £26,000. Earthborn Transport Limited, of West Bridgford, paid £12,000. The remaining sums in the £168,000 total came from separate waste and water offences elsewhere in Lincolnshire.

How enforcement undertakings work

The payments come through Enforcement Undertakings, a legally binding agreement that allows a business to avoid court proceedings. Instead, the company puts money directly into environmental work and takes steps to prevent a repeat offence.

All funds go to Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, which uses them to support nature recovery across the county. Past funding of this kind has paid for reedbed management using specialist low-impact machinery and environmental DNA surveys at Deeping Lakes Nature Reserve after a fish mortality event during the 2022 heatwave.

Laura Richardson, Environment Manager for the Environment Agency in the Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire area, said Enforcement Undertakings allow companies to put right what went wrong and channel money directly into the environment. She said the £168,000 would be invested back into the local area to benefit people and wildlife.

Paul Learoyd, Chief Executive of Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, said environmental breaches should never happen in the first place. He said prevention, backed by strong regulation, is always the best outcome. Where enforcement does secure investment, he added, it is important the funds go directly into practical conservation work benefiting wildlife and communities across the county's rivers, coasts and countryside.