A 32-year-old man was arrested at an address in Sunderland on the morning of 1 October 2026 in a joint operation between Northumbria Police and the Environment Agency, the agency said. He was held in custody for questioning over illegal waste dumping at the former Dewhirst site on Thorpe Road in Peterlee and at Hart Quarry in Hartlepool.

The arrest formed part of a wider investigation covering three sites, including a third near Newcastle Airport at Callerton in Newcastle. The agency said the dumps together amounted to thousands of tonnes of waste, and that all three were reported over the summer and later shut down with concrete blocks restricting access.

Mark Rumble, Environmental Crime Team Leader at the Environment Agency, described the arrest as an important step. Environment Secretary Dame Angela Eagle said it showed the government was delivering on its pledge to tackle waste crime. The agency estimated waste crime costs the UK over £1 billion every year.