20/04/2017 North West Tonight

Firefighters have been tackling a huge blaze at a warehouse

15 fire engines were sent to the building on Tan House Lane,

where a large amount of plastic and cardboard was ablaze -

causing a huge plume of black smoke which could be seen for miles.

People living nearby have been advised to stay away and keep

Crews are expected to be there for a while.

The swarms of flies almost unbearable.

Hundreds of tonnes of rubbish were dumped in parts of Liverpool,

making life a misery for many people last summer.

Today, after an undercover investigation, scores of police

and environmental protection officers carried out

raids across the country and arrested two people.

Police and environment agency staff raided businesses and homes in three

A covert operation was set up after alleged illegal

dumping at 17 sites, including Liverpool and Warrington.

Nearly 500 tonnes were left at this site in Everton last year.

Another 2,000 tonnes were dumped nearby.

Organised criminals involved in this activity.

That is why we work very closely with the police to take the

strongest action, and also look at recovering any proceeds of those

In Liverpool, the council welcomed today's arrests.

The dumping here last summer caused plagues of flies and other vermin.

And the cabinet member for neighbourhoods says

When something happens in an area like this,

panic unsurprisingly spreads to the community.

To realise that tonnes, hundreds of tonnes of

toxic waste is on your doorstep creates an atmosphere of fear.

Collecting rubbish is the relatively cheap

Taking it to landfill or for recycling is expensive.

And by just dumping it, unscrupulous operators can save hundreds

of thousands of pounds. Leaving others with a big bill.

If waste is illegally dumped on private

land, it is usually the band owner who pays for the clean-up.

On two sites here in Liverpool last summer,

the council, already facing big budget cuts,

The clean-up cost Liverpool close to ?500,000.

Two men have been arrested on suspicion of organising

the illegal dumping of waste in Liverpool and elsewhere.

One man was arrested in Hertfordshire,

Andy Gill, BBC North West Tonight, Liverpool.

I've been speaking to Lee Rawlinson from the Environment Agency.

I asked him how big a problem the dumping of waste by criminal

Treasury and legitimate business across the whole of England.

Here in the north-west, the Environment

Agency, we have shut down around 50 illegal waste site in these last

It is a huge problem, because waste is something that we

But there is a big criminal fraternity out there making a lot of

I take it they do it's because there is money to be made?

The waste industry, 97% of industry that operates are legal

We do produce a lot of waste as a country.

But then there is a criminal fraternity that get

involved with this and will try to undermine and undercut.

The waste industry is often then used to find

other illegal activities such as drugs and other crimes.

Detectives investigating the murder of a man in Salford say he died

The body of 61-year-old Giuseppe Roncari was found at his

Police are appealing for anyone with information to contact them.

Six robbers who blew up cash machines to steal huge amounts

of money have been jailed for a total of 92 years by a judge

He said the gang were ruthless, brazen and breathtakingly arrogant.

They travelled the country attacking cash machines,

pumping gas into them, causing explosions.

A group of mental health campaigners in Manchester say they're being left

without vital support because of cost cutting.

They say the health trust which provides their care is wrongly

marking them down as recovered, leaving them vulnerable.

The trust rejects the claims and says it's working with them.

Our Health Correspondent Gill Dummigan has this report.

This brother and sister have lived with his paranoid

In the past, it's left him in hospital.

These days, it simply leaves him terrified.

I hear voices saying they are going to kill me.

How does it make you feel? Really scared.

Until late January, he had the support of a psychiatric

nurse who he could turn to for advice and support.

But then, they say, the mental health trust decided he was well

It has a massive effect on our life because when he does

have the support that means we can step back a little bit.

Mental health services are often categorised by a step method.

Zero is the support of friends and family, the lowest.

Step five is inpatient services, the highest,

and as individuals change, they can step up or step down

Campaigners in Manchester say too many people are being stepped down

before they are ready, leaving them unsupported

One group which represents people with mental health needs say they've

heard from dozens who, because they've been judged

recovered, have lost not only medical but also financial support.

Many of them have lost most of their benefits.

When they can't do that, they can't look after themselves.

They go back into hospital or something drastic happens to them.

The two sides will be meeting next week to try to find a solution.

Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson has confirmed he wants

to become an MP in Liverpool, if the Walton MP Steve Rotheram

wins the vote to become the region's metro mayor.

Mr Anderson has said he'll put his name forward if the seat

He'd need to be selected by the Labour Party as a candidate

first, before he could stand in June's general election.

A cat has lost one of its legs after being shot six times at close

Despite his injuries Jasper managed to limp

The RSPCA said the two-year-old, was shot by an air gun and had

Yesterday, we were at the Heysham Moss in Lancashire,

today we are at The Dee marshes in Cheshire are home to a host

of wildlife but wardens are urgently appealing tor volunteer fire

watchers after another suspected arson attack on the reed beds.

The marshes, a site of international importance, have suffered a number

of fires in recent years, killing birds and mammals

and destroying valuable habitat. Lindsey Prosser reports.

Thousands of birds visit this nature reserve.

It's here that volunteer Tim Jepson discovered the blaze.

Turned around and saw a plume of smoke, so I came to investigate.

It was important it didn't spread to the main reed bed.

That's why it was important to get it put out quickly.

Four years ago a large fire did spread on the marshes.

The RSPB want people to be aware of how important the area is.

It destroys the habitat and it's not just for these birds,

A lot of harvest mice will have died during the fire.

It then destroys the habitat where the birds nest

This is an internationally-recognised site

of special interest and local people want it protected.

It attracts bird-watchers from far and wide.

It's clearly an important local resource.

Education for the young people is really, really important.

You have to get them interested at a young age and caring

The RSPB are asking for people to volunteer to deep

-- keep a watch over the reed beds during the mating season.

It's really important to have volunteers,

to keep an eye on the site, to make sure this

Football, and in the Europa League quarterfinal second leg with

Anderlecht, Manchester United were taken to extra time.

It finished 1-1 after normal time, 2-2 on aggregate,

and Marcus Rashford scored the winner that puts United into

For the latest on the fire, tune in to the radio and Tony Snell.

We have had cloud over the last couple of days and the high-pressure

means that it stays. It is being jacked towards us from the Irish

Sea. With the high pressure asserting itself, the weather front

of the week. The significant story is, towards the start of next week,

if you watch the arrows, they come from the north. Temperatures will be

lower than they should be for this time of year. In some places, there

could be snow, believe it or not, perhaps not us. Temperatures 12 or

13 for the next couple of days. Tomorrow, still mild air. Cloud

cover, a juice spots of drizzle, but generally temperatures pretty good.

Nine or ten. Tomorrow, an awful lot of cloud cover. If anything, some

more light and patchy drizzle. Not amounting to much and most places

not any. Quietening, brightest guy is trying to come through, but

temperatures around 12 or 13. He is the outlook.

week for much of the UK and for more about that and the UK outlook, Helen

Willetts. The sunshine make such a difference

this time of year, only 12 or so degrees under the cloud today but 19

in eastern Scotland not far away from St Andrews. Also in north-east

England, where we had the majority of the decent sunshine. Even under

cloud it was dry for the most part. We have this week whether forgiving

showers in the south. This weather front starting to pep up in the

North, it'll change the feel of the weather for all of us in the coming

36 hours. Through the night very little changes, cloud comes and

goes, there will be missed a shallow fog south of the M4. Possibly the

odd pocket of ground frost here and there. You can see the rain

gathering further north and already by the time we get to morning we

have colder air in across Orkney and Shetland with a