The quintessential English village of Peopleton in Worcestershire, with its family-run pub, medieval church and cricket field, presents a picture of rural tranquillity. Yet this peaceful community has been transformed into a frontline in Britain's escalating illegal waste crisis, with residents enduring what they describe as a living nightmare of noise, pollution and constant disruption.
The Scourge of Stone Arrow Farm
For over a year, locals have watched helplessly as a procession of 40-tonne trucks has rumbled through narrow country lanes before dumping vast quantities of stinking waste onto farmland at Stone Arrow Farm. The operation involves domestic detritus, builders' rubble and various forms of household rubbish, including plastic waste and discarded vapes, which are then fed into an ear-splitting grinding machine that sometimes operates in the small hours.
Another fleet of heavy vehicles then transports the processed material back through the lanes to unknown destinations. Residents report an average of six articulated lorries arriving daily at the site, with legitimate waste industry estimates suggesting such operations can generate up to £2,500 per lorry load.
A Criminal Enterprise Spreads
Peopleton's residents are not isolated victims but rather casualties of a fast-growing, highly organised criminal enterprise spreading across Britain's countryside. Police have described the unlicensed rubbish business as 'the new narcotics', with dumping illegal waste proving so profitable that organised criminal gangs have embraced it enthusiastically.
Government landfill tax, currently £126 per tonne and designed to encourage recycling, has created a lucrative opportunity for criminal operations to undercut legitimate waste management companies by avoiding these charges entirely.
The Network Uncovered
At the centre of the Peopleton operation stands John Bruce, a 53-year-old bankrupt with a long history of illegal waste activities. Bruce, who rents land from local farmer Carl Powell at Stone Arrow Farm, was sentenced to a year in prison in 2002 for dumping illegal waste including asbestos at unlicensed sites around Worcestershire.
In 2020, Bruce was ordered to pay £2.1 million under the Proceeds of Crime Act following a conviction for dumping 883,000 cubic feet of rubbish at Throckmorton Airfield, less than five miles from Peopleton. Remarkably, this order remains unenforced years later, with the airfield still littered with waste.
Multiple Sites, Connected Operations
The Daily Mail investigation revealed that the Stone Arrow Farm operation represents just one node in a network of illegal tips scarring the Worcestershire countryside. All sites are within a short drive of each other and can be linked through publicly available records to John Bruce and his family.
At Mill Lane near Wadborough, a long brown pile of rubbish lies rotting in a field next to what appears to be a much larger waste pile concealed beneath green sheeting. Land Registry documents show this land is owned by Max Bruce, John's 23-year-old son, through his company MB Property Holdings Ltd.
Near Evesham at Haselor Lane, a mass of processed rubble - mainly building materials - has been spread along a field edge, with Max Bruce named on recent planning applications for the site. Meanwhile, at Fladbury near the River Avon, another long waste pile sits between two rows of trees on land owned by Fineranch, a company whose sole directors are local business people Amy and Wayne Butterfield.
Authorities Struggle to Respond
The Environment Agency served a stop notice on the Stone Arrow Farm operation last January, with Wychavon District Council issuing an additional Planning Enforcement Notice. Some waste was subsequently removed, yet trucks continue to arrive regularly at the site.
Farmer Carl Powell has made apologetic statements, blaming his tenant for the illegal dump and claiming the operation got 'out of control'. However, Powell admitted to the Mail that he had Bruce on his land specifically to 'stick it to the village' following previous disputes with residents.
Recent Police Action
In January 2025, police raided Powell's home at Stone Arrow Farm, discovering £60,000 in cash stuffed in biscuit tins alongside a suspected stolen car and electrical goods possibly linked to money laundering. In coordinated raids across Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Shropshire, officers seized a total of £97,000 in cash and between £200,000 and £300,000 from bank accounts.
Two men were arrested in Drakes Broughton on suspicion of firearms offences, with six firearms seized alongside approximately £18,000 in cash. All suspects have been bailed pending further investigation.
The Human Cost
Residents of Peopleton, once home to notable figures including presenter Jeremy Paxman and novelist Barbara Cartland, now live in fear of the criminal activity on their doorstep. One villager told the Mail: 'We are all frightened to go on the record because of what the police have told us.'
The psychological impact on the community has been profound, with the constant noise, pollution and heavy traffic fundamentally altering the character of village life. The picturesque landscape that attracted residents to this corner of Worcestershire has been systematically defaced by field after field turned over to piles of fly-tipped waste.
A National Problem
Environment Agency figures reveal more than 500 large-scale illegal dumps now scar the British countryside, including a vast 280,000-tonne site in Cheshire, 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire and Cornwall, and a 36,000-tonne dump in Kent. The scale of the problem suggests Peopleton's experience is being replicated across the country.
Tory MP for Droitwich and Evesham Nigel Huddleston commented: 'There's so much money to be made some of the perpetrators are happy to blatantly disregard the law, even if it means getting fined or going to prison.'
The Environment Agency stated it continues to investigate 'illegal waste crime activity at sites in Worcestershire' and may take 'future enforcement action'. However, with vast swathes of countryside already ruined by rubbish, many residents wonder whether any intervention will come too late to restore their rural idyll.
