GIVING off a foul stench, a vast toxic landfill site is making life hell for long-suffering nearby residents who are braced for a summer of misery.
Major fires burn under the scorched earth, scarring half a mile of green belt countryside.
Dubbed the Rainham Volcano, the illegal eyesore in Essex sends thick plumes of acrid smoke billowing over nearby homes, schools and playing fields.
Whenever the temperature rises, gases from the buried waste heat up and spontaneously ignite — but nobody knows exactly what lies beneath the surface.
Furious locals are forced to keep their windows shut and remain indoors to protect themselves from dangerous spikes in air pollution that far exceed World Health Organization safety levels.
In response to complaints, Havering Council tested the soil and waste, monitored the gases released and inspected a water source.
It concluded last year that the site was “contaminated land”.
Locals, who say smoke from the fires smells like burning tyres, fear the fumes cause respiratory issues.
Since 2020 emergency services have been called to nearly 200 blazes at the site, which contains 80,000 tonnes of hazardous domestic and industrial waste including asbestos and mercury.
Locals desperately want the Environment Agency to clear it, but no funding has been allocated to the rubbish dumped in Rainham’s Launders Lane.
Eddie Nelson, 69, who has lived near the site for four years, told us: “We are governed by the weather. When it gets warm the methane from the waste heats up and the ground catches fire.
“The smell of smoke is awful and we constantly have fire engines screaming up the road. We have to shut all the windows and stay indoors. It makes your eyes water.
“Someone needs to take responsibility but even if they cover over the top layer with concrete it won’t stop the problem.
“You can dress up a pig and put lipstick on it, but it’s still a pig.”
Havering Council wants to put a cement seal over the hotspots that are most prone to bursting into flames to starve the ground of oxygen and temporarily minimise the fires — at a cost of about £300,000.
But the contaminated land is owned by Jerry O’Donovan of DMC Services Essex, who bought it in 2017 and has withheld access, leaving the council with limited powers to intervene.
Mr O’Donovan was not responsible for the waste dumping and says he bought the land in good faith.
He argues that further environmental assessments are required and the council has not provided the legal evidence needed to justify a clean-up.
The site, which was a gravel pit in the 1960s, has a murky history.
Since it was given permission for temporary landfill in 1999, there has been significant illegal waste dumping — and in 2011 a child suffered burns while exploring the field. His shoes reportedly fused to his feet from the heat.
Another horror story involved a fireman trying to tackle a blaze in 2023 — he was nearly swallowed up in the waste site before a colleague pulled him out.
In 2024, the council insisted the area was not officially designated as contaminated land, and it was not their responsibility to clear it up.
But campaigners and environmental groups mounted a legal challenge — and in June 2025 a judge ruled that the council had wrongly ignored the possible risks posed by toxic smoke.
Retired dog walker Janice Oughton told us: “I’ve lived here for 14 years and can’t remember a time when the smoke and smell wasn’t bad.
“Everyone here has respiratory problems — it can’t be a coincidence. I feel sorry for anyone trying to raise children.”
In last month’s local elections Reform UK seized control of Havering Council and new leader Keith Prince has pledged to finally deal with the situation.
He told The Sun: “We get complaints about it every single week.
“The guy who owns the land has applied for planning permission to concrete over it and build warehouses, but it is green belt land so that has been rejected.
“We have been trying to negotiate with him for years. The previous administration has not been harsh enough but I’m not prepared to be fobbed off.”
Kazim Yulus, 52, runs a convenience store near the site, but has to keep his fruit and veg covered because of the smoke and fumes.
He said: “When it’s bad, you get a dry throat, and my customers worry that could be a symptom of something worse like cancer. I would move away but I can’t afford to.”
Dr Opel Baker, a GP at Mayfield Clinic, warned exposure to airborne irritants over long periods “might significantly affect quality of life and worsen health conditions”.
The Sun approached landowner Mr O’Donovan for comment.
