Overview

• Preston Crown Court issued a full closure order on July 4 barring anyone from entering or remaining on the Meadow Street site for three months under threat of arrest or fine.
• On July 7, more than 100 officers from Lancashire Constabulary, Hyndburn Council, the RSPCA and the Environment Agency moved in to secure the site and carry out coordinated evictions.
• Authorities say the yard’s illegal waste management has fuelled recurring fires and triggered a four-day blaze on adjacent public land in May that blanketed the area in toxic smoke.
• Owner Mary Smith told the court she and her daughter plan to live in a two-man tent after eviction and claimed she has relied on benefits since her husband, Tommy ‘Hotdog’ Smith, was imprisoned.
• Local residents have complained of putrid odours, breathing difficulties and disrupted outdoor activities as past enforcement efforts failed to halt dumping and anti-social behaviour.