WORK to clear tonnes of dumped waste at Trago Mills is expected to take six months.

The Environment Agency is still investigating how the rubbish, which includes old tyres and household equipment, was dumped at Trago's Liverton site, near Newton Abbot.

A member of the public reported the dump and a spokesman for Trago says they had been 'let down' by a former member of the senior management team.

Trago has been working since September to clear an estimated 2,000 tonnes of tyres, sinks and domestic appliances found on a private part of the site.

Andrew Nunn, Trago Mills group business development director, said the removal of waste has been hampered by poor weather but hopes the site will be cleared shortly.

He said: "We have been riddling the soil and extracting waste from the mixture and removing the elements which should not be there.

"We have been let down on this. There are established procedures for dealing with waste and recycling materials which appear not to have been done by a former senior member of the management team who is no longer with us.

"That has allowed a situation to come about that we did not know anything about."

He said the cost of the clean-up is likely to be thousands of pounds.

Work to clear the waste was started after a complaint from a member of the public and is now not expected to be finished until March.

The work is being done by Trago and a consultant. It is being monitored by the Environment Agency as the waste and pollution guardian.

The amount of waste to be cleared is much larger than first thought. In September it was estimated to be around 200 tonnes but the agency now believes from measurements of the site it is around 2,000 tonnes.

An Environment Agency spokesman said: "Trago is using pretty heavy machinery to sort his material, but it cannot be used in the recent cold weather or the rain we had in November.

"We are supervising the clean-up and nothing leaves the site without our approval.

"We are advising Trago on what can be recycled or what needs further processing before removal."

Material is being tested by independent laboratories which report their findings to the agency.

It is understood there is no unduly hazardous material on the site.

The agency spokesman said: "The work could continue into the early spring. We are very keen the site should be cleared as soon as possible and we are encouraging Trago to do it as quickly as they can."