Imagine being trapped in your own home, surrounded by 25,000 tonnes of illegally dumped waste, with rats scurrying everywhere and a toxic stench that makes your child physically ill. This is the harsh reality for one family in Wigan, whose lives have been upended by a crisis that’s far more common than you might think.
Nicha Rowson, a mother living just metres from a massive illegal waste site in Bickershaw, Wigan, shared with Sky News how her family’s life has been shattered over the past 17 months. The situation became so unbearable that her eight-year-old son, Oliver, who has autism, had to move out to live with his grandmother. The overwhelming smell from the dump was making him severely unwell, leaving Nicha with no other choice.
But here's where it gets controversial: Is this just a local issue, or a symptom of a much larger, systemic problem? Waste crime is booming across the UK, with criminal gangs exploiting loopholes to make millions while leaving communities like Nicha’s to suffer the consequences. The Environment Agency has even dubbed it “the new narcotics”—a lucrative, poorly regulated industry with devastating environmental and human costs.
Nicha describes her home as a “prison,” a place where her family’s mental health has deteriorated. “It’s like being separated parents,” she says, even though she and her partner are still together. The stress of the situation has torn them apart, and the constant rat infestation forced them to tear down their ceiling to combat the problem. “We’d see rats running along our fences, in the streets—they were everywhere,” she recalls. At one point, she even found a dead rat in her living room.
And this is the part most people miss: It’s estimated that a fifth of all waste in England—around 34 million tonnes annually—is managed illegally. That’s enough to fill four million skips. This crime costs the economy roughly £1 billion a year, with legitimate businesses losing an additional £3 billion. Last July, Sky News exposed a group of suspected fly-tippers flaunting wads of cash on TikTok after dumping waste in the countryside, highlighting how easy it is to profit from this illegal activity.
Nicha feels like she’s “failing” as a parent. “I’m fighting and fighting, but I’m not winning,” she admits. The dumping began in autumn 2024 on Bolton House Road, and within months, mountains of waste piled up in what was once a quiet scrapyard. The situation reached a breaking point last July when the site caught fire during a heatwave, burning for nine days. The blaze forced a local primary school to close and sent several residents to the hospital. The strain on resources was so severe that residents went days without water.
Here’s the real question: Why are working-class towns like Wigan being left to fend for themselves while middle-class areas like Kidlington, Oxfordshire, receive £9.6 million in funding to clear a similar site? Local MP Josh Simons called out this disparity, asking why a major incident affecting schoolchildren isn’t considered “exceptional” enough for urgent action. Baroness Sheehan, chair of the Lords’ environment and climate change committee, echoed this concern, stating that the hazardous waste in Bickershaw should be a top priority for resident safety.
Nicha feels abandoned by the authorities. “We’ve begged for help, sent professional emails, and even called the situation inhumane, but they’re ignoring us,” she says. Her family works tirelessly, yet their home has been devalued due to the waste site. “If we sold it, we might not even cover the outstanding mortgage,” she laments. Her plea to the Environment Agency is simple: “Stop thinking about the money and start caring about our mental and physical health.”
The Environment Agency claims it’s holding perpetrators accountable, but for Nicha and her neighbors, the response feels too little, too late. Wigan Council is clearing part of the site that spilled onto a nature reserve, but the entire area remains a hazard. The council’s leader, David Molyneux MBE, has questioned why funding was provided for Oxfordshire but not Wigan, calling on the government to act.
So, what do you think? Is this a matter of unequal resource allocation, or are some communities simply being overlooked? Share your thoughts in the comments—this is a conversation that needs to happen.
