THE boss of a company who caused a public outcry by failing to remove hundreds of tonnes of rubbish from his waste transfer station has been jailed.

A Lewis Waste Management and Skiphire Ltd in Nantyglo caused a stench as it stockpiled a staggering 4,000 tonnes of waste on the site meant to contain up to 620 tonnes, a court heard.

Some of the waste was hazardous including asbestos.

The company’s owner Adrian Lewis, of Waun-Ebbw Road, Nantyglo, pleaded guilty to eight environmental charges.

Newport Crown Court heard today that Natural Resources Waste faces an estimated £1.3 million clean-up bill as a result of his actions.

Inspectors repeatedly visited the site amid concerns about stockpiling and warned 43-year-old Lewis.

But waste continue to build up with skips stacked on top of each other.

Prosecutor Tim Evans said: “It was clear he continued to import waste onto the site.

“There is some evidence some of it was going to landfill but more was coming on, waste was taken on.

“Essentially, he continued to commit criminal offences to get money in.”

His company has now gone into liquidation because of debts, the court has heard.

The authorities received 23 reports from the public who complained about issues including the smell, pest, and pollution between 2013 and 2014.

Mr Evans said this caused an outcry among members of the public and politicians from the Welsh Assembly and the Houses of Parliament were made aware of the situation.

Defence barrister, David Hassall, said his client had been the victim of a campaign of burglaries, arsons and threats made against his staff and family.

Mr Hassall alleged that elements of the campaign had been perpetrated by an unnamed, rival company.

He said the crisis in his client’s life had affected his ability to control what arrived on site over a period of time.

But Mr Hassall said his client had never set out to make a quick buck.

He told the court: “He tried to make it good by taking in waste to make a profit to clear it.”

Newport Judge Daniel Williams said Lewis had ignored warnings and continued to stockpile waste in a “flagrant disregard for the law”.

Judge Daniel Williams jailed him for eight months for two charges of being in breach of an environmental condition, to run concurrently.

He also jailed him for six months for two further breaches of an environmental condition, to run concurrently and four months for one count of failing to comply with a notice to remove the stockpiled waste, to run concurrently.

Lewis was given a further four months for three charges of unlawfully depositing waste on land, to run concurrently, making the overall sentence eight months.