BRIERLEY Hill residents have been breathing a huge sigh of relief at seeing a giant waste mound that has dominated the skyline reduced to the final scraps.

The eyesore pile of rubbish on the old Refuse Derived Fuel site in Moor Street put the town on the map for all the wrong reasons back in 2012 when it crept up to a 40-foot mountain.

But work finally got underway to remove the waste pile in January this year – and it is now nearing completion.

Brierley Hill councillor Rachel Harris said: “It’s on its last legs. Residents are thrilled, we’re really pleased.”

In 2013, RDF director Robert McNaughton was sentenced to six months in prison for failing to clear the rubbish after a series of court hearings – and, although the mound did reduce in size somewhat, it eventually fell to the owners of the site to clear the blot on the landscape which has blighted the lives of people living nearby.

Environment Agency bosses were determined to ensure taxpayers did not have to foot the bill and have been liaising with the landowners during the clear up operation.

Dudley News:

A spokesman for the agency said: "There were approximately 25,000 tonnes of waste on site, which - after being sorted - is being disposed of at a variety of authorised disposal locations. As much as possible is being recycled."

An outline application for 94 one and two-bedroom properties to be built on the site was approved last year and cllr Harris said: “We’re now just waiting for a developer to come along and get cracking with it.”