With Waste4Fuel's High Court hearing set to reach a long-awaited conclusion next Tuesday (July 1), these pictures remind us what nearby residents in St Paul's Cray have lived with for the last two and a half years.

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The problems at Waste4Fuel started in December 2011 when the Cornwall Drive site was on fire for three days, causing nearby Sevenoaks Way to be closed.

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This escalated in 2013, with ten fires recorded over the course of the year - including the longest running fire in Bromley's history, which lasted nine days in March.

The fumes coming from the site have caused significant stress among local residents: some claim they haven't opened a window in two years; others say the continuous stench has made them physically sick - and to make matters worse house prices in the area have reportedly plummeted.

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This year fire services have continued to be called out to the site as the situation shows no signs of improving.

This is despite the Environment Agency acquiring a High Court order in November last year requiring all combustible waste to be removed from the site by May 1 - Waste4Fuel failed to comply.

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The EA is now seeking contempt charges against the recycling company, former company director Bryan Hughes, new company director Shelley Hurst and site manager Jonathan Beckson.

A High Court hearing is set to reach its conclusion on Tuesday next week.

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Meanwhile in February this year Waste4Fuel was fined £8,960 after it was prosecuted by the London Fire Brigade for stacking flammable materials 12 times in excess of the size legally allowed.

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This didn't stop Waste4Fuel putting forward, in March, an application to increase the amount of waste being brought into the site, from 75 tonnes per week to 200 tonnes per week.

The application is being dealt with as part of the ongoing High Court hearing.

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In April Bromley Council said it was seeking a court injunction to stop Waste4Fuel illegally dumping waste on green belt land.

The council claimed the recycling plant has been dumping rubbish more than a metre high on the adjoining land without planning permission.

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And although a study into the toxicity of air close to the site in May said emissions posed no significant risk to public health, local residents' lives continue to be made a misery.

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