THE ILLEGAL storage of cancer-causing material by a North-East skip hire company put the public at significant risk, a court heard today.

Unmarked and potentially deadly asbestos waste was left around the grounds of the Darlington-based Albert Hill Skip Hire company, according to evidence given at the trial of the company’s director, Paul Shepherd and his brother, Raymond.

Expert witness and senior environmental crime officer Dr Paul Salter, of the Environment Agency, said the material had not been stored correctly at the Dodsworth Street site.

He said: “I was concerned about asbestos waste. Asbestos is a carcinogenic material that causes cancer and the handling of that waste is hazardous.

“Such waste clearly needs to be marked as asbestos. If it is not labelled, a person not knowing what they are dealing with could come into contact with it and be caused harm.

“It needs to be clearly marked and double-bagged in plastic, sealed bags.

“There are people who go to places like this, looking around for things of value. If the site is not secure and is accessible to members of the public and the waste there contains asbestos and is not labelled then there is a significant risk.”

The Shepherd brothers deny a number of charges relating to serious environmental breaches at the firm’s Dodsworth Street site as well at as their site on Whessoe Road, Darlington and at the West Musgrave Farm – operated by the company in St Helen Auckland, County Durham.

The trial continues.