£12,000 fine for Cheltenham waste operator for disposal of diesel
Judge condemns operator – 'A deliberate and blatant attempt to get around the law.' Penalty over £47,000 includes costs for dangerous disposal of red diesel.
Red diesel at the site
The operator of a waste site in Cheltenham has been issued a hefty £47,000 fine and costs after deliberately disposing of red diesel from one of its screening machines at its yard in Lower Slaughter in November 2022.
J. Gilder Earthmoving and Aggregates Ltd appeared in Gloucester crown court on 5 October 2026, represented by its director, Joseph Gilder, to be sentenced for an offence of unlawfully discharging red diesel onto the ground on or before 17 November 2022. The company had already pleaded guilty to the charge at an earlier date.
In his remarks, judge Rupert Lowe said:
The company had deliberately chosen to ignore the red diesel rules and then deliberately spilled the fuel.” He added: “There was no reason for this offence to be committed at all – it was a deliberate and blatant attempt to get round the law and obstruct those who care for the environment.
On 17 November 2022, there was an unannounced visit byHis Majesty’s Revenue and Customs to the site, to establish whether the company was still using illegal red diesel. Although the site was open for business, and Gilder was present, the inspectors were not initially allowed in. Instead, either Gilder or someone else acting on the company’s behalf emptied red diesel from a scalping screener - a separator for bulky construction waste - to avoid detection.
After being kept waiting for more than 2 hours, the HMRC officers were granted entry, after which they spotted 2 large puddles of red diesel on the ground. HMRC informed the Environment Agency, which visited the site and took soil samples to determine the extent of any ground contamination.
A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said:
J. Gilder Earthmoving & Aggregates Ltd deliberately caused pollution by pouring red diesel, which it was illegally using, onto the ground. It was a reckless act to avoid detection by HMRC.
Where we find evidence of illegal polluting activity, we will not hesitate to take enforcement action.
HMRC issued a fine for the unlawful use of red diesel, and the Environment Agency subsequently charged J. Gilder Earthmoving & Aggregates Ltd with environmental offences relating to the discharge of fuel onto the ground.
After the incident, the Environment Agency ensured that around 3.5 tonnes of the most contaminated soil was removed by the company from the site that reduced the ongoing effect of the spillage and the risk of seepage into the groundwater.
J. Gilder Earthmoving & Aggregates Ltd was fined £12,000, as well as being ordered to pay costs of £33,610.06 and a £2,000 statutory surcharge.
Background:
- The Environment Agency’s 10-point plan is taking the fight against waste criminals up a gear. Specialist officers are acting earlier on larger sites, sharing more information with the public, making greater use of enforcement tools, and actively naming and shaming illegal waste sites.
- The Environment Agency has secured almost 250 prosecutions for waste offences across England since 2023, with courts handing out fines of more than £2.2m and nearly 90 custodial or suspended prison sentences.
- In 2024/25 alone, the Environment Agency closed 743 illegal waste sites over the country. Some 143 were high risk.
- The Environment Agency’s economic crime unit has secured more than £1.5m in confiscation orders in recent years, along with freezing almost £21m through investigations into money laundering linked to waste crime.
- 10-point plan: https://engageenvironmentagency.uk.engagementhq.com/waste-crime-stand-with-us-to-end-waste-crime
Contact us - journalists only:
Media enquiries: 0800 141 2743. E-mail: Communications_SE@environment-agency.gov.uk