Businesswoman Jailed for Scunthorpe Pollution Risk

A company director has been jailed for six months for putting Scunthorpe residents at risk of water and air pollution following a fire at a recycling plant.

The blaze occurred at Thompson Waste Recycling Centre in Scunthorpe on May 5, 2014. Toxic fumes and rats hampered attempts to bring the fire under control and it blazed for two days.

It is thought the fire may have started because there was too much rubbish at the site, but the investigation could not rule out arson.

The site was unlicensed as a recycling centre, and Hull Crown Court heard that Nessa Thompson, director at Thompson Waste Recycling, had ignored repeated warnings about not having a licence to operate.

Sentencing, Judge Simon Jack told Thompson:

"The environmental laws are to protect people from harm. If you break those laws you do so at your peril.

"I take the view this was about money. There was deliberate flouting, and you knew there were problems of operation at the site.

"You simply wanted to make money and conceal what you were doing."

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