Spring Mill Street fire: Man jailed for illegal tyre store that caused fire chaos across city

At the height of blaze in November 2020 up to 100 firefighters from across West Yorkshire were involved in trying to put out the fire which burned for several days and caused extensive disruption to nearby schools, businesses, homes and transport services.

Stuart Bedford, 62, of Fairfax Avenue, Harrogate, was jailed by a judge on Tuesday after he ignored repeated warnings from the Environment Agency and the Fire Service about the potential risks at the former go-karting site in Spring Mill Street and a similar illegal waste tyre business he also ran at Wright Business Park in Doncaster.

The court was told it was estimated that Bedford, who had experience of the waste tyre business, had amassed nearly one million used tyres across the two sites and at one stage valued his stock at the Bradford site as being worth £1m.

But prosecutor Joseph Millington said the relevant agencies were becoming increasingly concerned about the Bradford site where huge piles of precariously stacked tyres were being stored. Mr Millington said similar activities were taking place at the Doncaster site where he said “the building was stuffed with tyres”.

Despite the service of so-called “stop letters” Judge Jonathan Gibson said Bedford’s efforts to improve the situation had been “woefully inadequate” and in November 2020 a major incident was declared when the Bradford site caught fire.

Mr Millington said the Fire Service costs alone in dealing with the massive blaze were put at just over £1m.

Thousands of pupils had their education affected due to the closure of nearby schools and there was significant disruption to rail and road links.

Bedford appeared in court alongside his wife Vicky, but Judge Gibson said Mrs Bedford, 51, of Fairgrey Close, Ripon, was effectively “a straw director” and was made the subject of a 12-month community order for her role in the offending.

Both admitted charges of operating an unauthorised regulated facility in relation to both sites and keeping controlled waste, namely tyres, in a manner likely to cause pollution and health harms.