A Trowbridge waste transfer site has been fined £25,000 for multiple breaches of its permit, including a failure to control a rat infestation.

Magistrates in Chippenham heard how an Environment Agency officer said, after a visit to EJ Shanley's Green Lane site, he had never seen so many rats on a waste transfer station running around in broad daylight.

The court heard on Monday how by the end of his inspection the officer found Shanley's had breached many permit conditions and ruled the site was poorly run.

Further checks revealed the site accepted far more waste than it was entitled to and this had caused handling and storage problems.

The limit in any one year is 5,000 tonnes. In 2007 the transfer station accepted nearly 13,500 tonnes.

Shanley's admitted five offences under the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2007, including depositing waste outside a permitted area, failure to maintain tipping bay walls, exceeding the tonnage limit, failing to control rat infestation and allowing litter to escape from the site.

The officer visited the transfer station in Green Lane, Trowbridge on May 16, 2008.

As he was parking his car he saw rats moving around the site.

Further checks revealed the rats had colonised an earth bund and the company had made no attempt to control their numbers.

During a follow-up visit on May 29, 2008, no improvements were seen.

Drains had become blocked and waste bays flooded. Waste was being stored outside the permitted area and an old TV, which is classified as hazardous waste and is not permitted on the site, was seen partially submerged in water in the tipping area.

Chris Povey for the Environment Agency said: "The site was being run significantly below the standard expected and this was reflected in the number of permit breaches found during our visits.

"Excessive quantities of waste were being brought to the site and this probably contributed to the deterioration in standards."

The company was fined £5,000 for each of the five offences under the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2007 and ordered to pay costs of £3,513.

It is the second time E J Shanley & Son (Trowbridge) Ltd has been prosecuted by the Environment Agency in the past year.

In June 2008, the company was ordered to pay £41,813 in fines and costs for operating an illegal waste transfer station at a scrapyard in Warminster.