A businessman who was paid £135,000 to dump nappies and human waste in Oswaldtwistle has been ordered to pay back only a third of the money.

More than 13,000 tonnes of mixed waste was stored at the former chemical factory on Nook Lane which led to a ‘terrible’ fly infestation in the summer of 2012.

The waste had been baled at the Blakeley’s Waste Management site in Wigan and then moved to Oswaldtwistle between June and August despite no environmental permit being in place.

Burnley Crown Court heard how Arthur Morgan, who worked as a consultant, was paid £135,000 to dispose of the waste.

Morgan, 57, of Station Road, Thurston, Cheshire, pleaded guilty to two counts of knowingly causing or permitting the illegal tipping of waste without a valid environmental permit.

He was fined £17,500 and ordered to pay £30,000 costs towards the Environment Agency.

Judge Beverley Lunt said Morgan, had put ‘making money’ above protecting the environment and people and the offences had caused ‘real problems’ for people in the area who were ‘inundated with flies’.

She also noted that Morgan, in his mitigation, had sought to mislead the court by saying that he’d contributed £25,000 to charity.

Judge Lunt had asked for further enquiries to be made and these later showed that Morgan had not paid ‘one penny to the charity mentioned’.

Speaking after the sentence, Steve Molyneux, environment manager at the Environment Agency, said: “The people of Oswaldtwistle really suffered the impacts of these offenders , and we are pleased for the community that this serious offence has been successfully prosecuted.”

Stephen Blakeley, 51, of Henfield Road, Higher Ince, Wigan, who was a company director at the time, earlier pleaded guilty to depositing, causing the depositing or permitting the depositing of controlled waste without a licence.

The former boss was fined £7,500 and told he will serve six months in prison if he defaults in payment.

Blakeleys Waste Management Ltd, which now operate as Blakeley’s Recycling Ltd, pleaded guilty to unauthorised deposits of controlled waste and was fined £15,000 and ordered to pay £15,000 costs.