‘The new narcotics’: how waste crime is causing environmental disaster across the UK

A view of Hoad’s Wood in Ashford, Kent, as an operation continues to clear thousands of tonnes of illegally dumped waste from the Kent woodland. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA

In a once scenic ancient woodland outside Ashford, an enormous biohazard cleanup operation is under way to remove the toxic aftermath of the criminal dumping of 35,000 tonnes of rubbish.

Tankers come and go along a new road, built for the purpose. Behind metal gates away from public view, specialists in hazmat suits dig through the mountain of waste dumped on an industrial scale in a woodland that is a protected site of special scientific interest.