A County Durham recycling plant was issued with an enforcement notice weeks before a large fire broke out.
Durham County Council ordered work to Old Eldon Brickworks, in Bishop Auckland, due to the unauthorised use of the land for the storage and importing of waste.
Firefighters were called to a large blaze at the site on Monday morning, with around 4,000 tonnes of waste believed to be on fire.
The notice, which can been seen at the site, was issued on August 3 and work was to stop on August 6 this year.
It reads: “The council considers it expedient to issue this notice because the unauthorised importation and external control, uncontrolled storage mixed waste is causing an adverse impact upon the amenity of nearby residents and the local environment conflict with saved County Durham Waste Local Plan Policies.”
Durham County Council granted planning permission for a waste management centre on the site in July 2016, with £4.5 million invested in the plant by the Viridis Group.
The site is now managed by Falcons Management Ltd, which is based in Stockton-on-Tees.
The company states on its website that it was set up in March 2019 with the purpose of focusing on the restoration of former quarries and brownfield sites as well as mineral extraction and material recycling processes.
It states the company purchased a large multipurpose site at the Eldon Resource Recovery Centre in with the intention to extract remaining minerals, restoring the site and bringing back into use the material recycling operations.
Stuart Timmiss, head of housing and development at Durham County Council, said: “We can confirm that an Enforcement Notice had been issued in respect to the unauthorised use of the land for the storage and importing of waste.
“We are liaising with other relevant agencies in response to the fire that broke out on Monday and we are assisting them with any further recovery of the site.”
County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service had seven crews at the scene during the height of the fire.
Residents were warned crews could be at the site for a number of days as they carried out a controlled burn to tackle the fire.
Falcons Management Ltd could not be reached for comment.
