WASTE building materials which were allegedly illegally dumped on a farm were in fact used as bedding for cattle, a court has been told.

Raymond Shepherd, of Darlington-based Albert Hill Skip Hire, whose family own the 60-acre West Musgrave Farm, near Bishop Auckland, confirmed that the firm was paid to dispose of plasterboard and other materials at the farm.

However, he said the plasterboard was used for cattle bedding, something that the authorities encouraged in order that it could be recycled and used again.

Mr Shepherd told the jury in his trial at Teesside Crown Court: “The Environment Agency said it was an irritant and we could not use it, but they were contradicting advice given by Defra and the state vet.”

The 58-year-old explained how he had been involved in the waste recycling business since 2005 and his company rented a site for the disposal of waste at Dodsworth Street, Albert Hill.

Mr Shepherd denies operating the Dodsworth Street site without an Environment Agency permit and illegally depositing waste at West Musgrave Farm. He is also accused of flouting a suspension notice to stop trading as a waste transfer operation.

His younger brother Paul, 56, a director of Albert Hill Skip Hire, who is on trial along with the firm, also denies the permit and suspension notice offences.

The trial heard how the Shepherds had recently employed an expert to examine fields at West Musgrave Farm which inspectors in March 2011 found contained a large amount of waste gypsum contaminated with other building materials.

Dr Eric John Evans, an expert in plant nutrition, said while he did find traces of gypsum in the soil, it was not present to the extent that the Environment Agency claimed.

He added: “I would have also expected to find concrete, metal, wood and a large amount of plastic, but I did not.”

Lee Fish, prosecuting for the Environment Agency, said Dr Evans would not have known what had gone on at the farm in the intervening period and also pointed out that three 'growing seasons' had effectively been and gone which would have substantially changed the nature of the soil in the fields.

The trial continues.