A MOTHER and son have been fined more than £48,000 after they admitted running an illegal waste site in Great Horkesley.

They allowed about a thousand lorry loads of soil and stone to be dumped at Gean Trees without permission over four years.

When complaints were made, and after promising to remove it, they instead allowed more to be deposited.

It is estimated almost 15,000 tonnes were dumped with the pair paid about £65,000 in total by construction companies to take it.

At Chelmsford Magistrates' Court yesterday George Dench admitted one count of contravening the requirements of an environmental permit between February 2012 and February 2016.

The 24-year-old, of The Causeway, Great Horkesley, also admitted breaching an enforcement notice from Essex County Council.

On September 28, 2015, he was ordered to remove the soil and stone he had allowed to be dumped there, but he ignored the order.

Landowner Annette Williams, 55, of the same address, also admitted the same two offences.

The court heard Dench contacted construction companies informing them they could dump soil, stone and inert materials at the site.

He got an exemption from the Environment Agency which allowed one thousand tonnes to be deposited over three years if the material was used at the site.

This limit was reached within a month, the material wasn't used on site, but the dumping continued.

She did the paperwork.

Two construction companies have also received cautions and have since removed 8,500 tonnes.

The defendants have not removed any.

They have blamed her common law husband and his father, Tony Dench, who they claim really ran the operation.

Richard Cooper, mitigating, explained George Dench has severe dyslexia, left school with a reading age of 12 and was not capable of running the operation.

He was declared bankrupt in 2014.

Mr Cooper told the court Williams, a healthcare assistant, was taken advantage of by her common law husband while she was suffering from depression.

He said Tony Dench has avoided prosecution because she is named as the landowner and George Dench as the manager but he was the one running the operation and the one who received the money.

Mr Cooper said Tony Dench came up with the idea after having some material deposited to solidify the banks around the lake when he realised you could get paid to take materials.

Tony Dench has not been charged with any offences.

Chairman of the bench Mr Knight said: "We cannot fully accept the mitigation that you were effectively patsies.

"The level of activity we found to be deliberate in nature for both of you.

"There were numerous meetings with the Environment Agency and Essex County Council and they made it very clear what the situation was, that you should remove the waste and the activity should cease.

"You certainly did not have it removed and had more dumped."

Dench was fined just under £24,000 split across the two counts and ordered to pay almost £9,000 in costs and charges.

Williams was fined more than £24,000 and ordered to pay almost £9,000 in costs and charges.