Bradford tire fire: Man convicted over 2020 blaze that cost £1m

A man who ran a scrap tire site where a fire raged for almost three weeks and caused school closures has been jailed for 12 months.

Stuart Bedford was “careless” for ignoring advice to clear the site on Spring Mill Street in Bradford before starting a fire on November 16, 2020, a judge was told.

It was not extinguished until December 5, costing firefighters more than £1.1m and prompting the temporary closure of 25 schools.

Bedford, 62, from Harrogate, was jailed at Bradford Crown Court on Tuesday after admitting operating an unauthorized regulated facility and keeping controlled waste in a way likely to cause pollution and harm human health.

Joseph Millington, prosecuting the Environment Agency, told the court that Bedford was the “controlling mind” of the site, despite his wife Vicky being a director of the company that manages the property.

Vicky Bedford, 51, from Ripon, was described as a “strawman” but accepted she bore some responsibility.

She was given a 12-month community order after admitting the same charges.

Stuart Bedford “agreed that the pile of tires was too high and too close to the trees” after numerous warnings from local authorities, the prosecution said.

But “a large amount of tires remained on this site throughout,” Mr Millington added.

He said: “Mr Bedford could be in no doubt not only about the illegality of his actions but also about the concerns the authorities had about him.”

Fire services were carried out at the scene from November 16 to December 5 at a cost of £1,135,000, according to the prosecution.

Mr Millington added that schools were closed, as were rail lines to Bradford.

Following this, further concerns were raised about another site the pair ran in Doncaster, where Mr Millington said “illegal activity” was also taking place.

While Stuart Bedford was described as “not a man of good character” by the prosecution, the court was told Vicky Bedford had shown “good character” and “remorse”.

Ben Thomas, mitigating for Stuart Bedford, said he “wants to apologize to the town and its citizens for what happened”.

He said he expressed “a deep sense of shame for his actions”.

Sentencing, Judge Jonathan Gibson told him: “There is no doubt in my mind that you deliberately broke the law.

“You knew from the outset that the number of tires you stocked at any of the sites was far greater than any exemption certificate would have held for any of those sites.”

He added: “You were reckless in the true sense of the word.”