Farmers block fly-tippers with forklift after catching them dumping rubbish on their land

Fly-tippers were forced to abandon their truck after being caught dumping rubbish on a farmer’s land.

Farmer Steve Jones trapped the men with a car and was joined by his sons Trevor and Josiah in their tractor and rough-terrain forklift at Harvel House Farm near Meopham, Kent.

Jones, 65, said rubbish being dumped on his land had become a daily occurrence, so his family decided to take action.

They used walkie talkies to coordinate their operation at around 9.45am on 2 July.

After blocking the fly-tippers' van, one man fled the scene while another pleaded with the farmers and threatened to smash through the barricade, Jones said.

He tried to escape by mounting the verge but was unable to get through, so he also left before police arrived to seize the vehicle, he added.

Jones said: “We wouldn’t go a month without fly-tipping generally. It ranges from people clearing out their shed to people who are doing it serially.

“It’s quite regular, but this lot were coming every day, which was a bit silly of them because it made them easy to catch.

“We knew roughly what sort of time they were coming, so I got there about 9.45am.

“They turned up and we saw them go past. They were incredibly quick. By the time I got the car down there, they were on their way out.

“I got on the walkie talkie, and the boys and some of the staff turned up. I didn’t close the gates, I just parked the car across the gateway so they couldn’t get out.

“They weren’t best pleased. One of them just walked straight off, he wasn’t hanging around.

“The other one remonstrated with me. He told me to get out of the way, and then he got on his phone to get some other people. Then he said ‘I’m just going to smash out past you’.

“I said ‘that’s why I bought a £200 car’. He went up the bank but lost traction on his wheels and couldn’t move.

"My two boys were coming with tractors, so we boxed him in so he couldn’t get out.”

The vehicle driver then left the scene, leaving behind the tipper van, which was later seized by police.

Gravesham council confirmed environmental enforcement officers attended with police on Friday and the investigation was in its early stages.

A Kent Police spokesman added: “Officers attended and seized a vehicle, which had been driven to the scene by the man who made the threats.

"Inquiries into the threatening behaviour are ongoing.”