The Prime Minister has set out a new plan to shut down criminal gangs running illegal waste sites.

The plan includes Better use of drones, a bigger role for the police and the National Crime Agency, more Environment Agency officers on the front line, and a steep rise in fines.

Mayors will lead the effort in their own areas, with a reformed partnership between national and regional agencies and councils which will facilitate better intelligence and capability sharing at a local level. 

The government has also agreed to fund the clean clean-up of three more of the country’s most serious illegal waste sites.

Together, the sites contain around 22,000 tonnes of illegally dumped waste and are harming an estimated 2,900 families.

The government says these sites are often run by serious organised crime groups. 

A new Waste Crime Crackdown Group, chaired by Environment Secretary Angela Eagle, will bring regulators and law enforcement together to dismantle criminal operations and deliver results.

Environment Secretary Dame Angela Eagle said: "This isn’t just about people dumping rubbish. Large-scale waste sites are fuelled by serious, organised crime, and we need to use the full force of the law to tackle it and root it out at source.

"Communities have been subjected to horrendous conditions and denied the pride they deserve in the places they call home. This ends now.

"We are cleaning up sites, but we are also stopping the cycle, driving faster prevention and disruption, better intelligence, and stronger coordination across the system."

Environment Agency Chief Executive Philip Duffy said: "We know how much damage illegal waste sites do to the communities that live near them.  

"By strengthening our intelligence and analysis capability, and working more closely with regional partners, Environment Agency teams across the country will be better placed to stay well ahead of the criminals behind this activity and support the recovery of the places we call home."