SENTINELENVIRONMENTAL INTELLIGENCEIndependent investigation and intelligence support for farmers, private landowners, estates, businesses and organisations affected by illegally dumped waste.
Discuss a fly-tipping incident ↗A load of waste at a field entrance can leave you facing clearance costs, disruption and uncertainty about whether it will happen again.
Sentinel examines the available evidence and information to help you understand the incident, identify legitimate opportunities for further enquiry and decide what to do next. Where dumping recurs, we look beyond each individual report to assess patterns and possible connections.
We work across England and Wales. Every enquiry is assessed for lawful purpose, professional competence and proportionality. A single incident on a family farm receives the same considered attention and professional care as a complex problem across a major estate.
Review photographs, incident records, witness information and other material supplied by the client. Where agreed and appropriate, document relevant locations, access routes and scene features, recording the provenance and limitations of evidence.
Use lawful open-source research concerning relevant companies, vehicles, properties, people and waste-related activity. A name or address found in waste is a lead to assess, rather than proof of who deposited it.
Compare dates, locations, methods, vehicles and entities across incidents. Timelines, mapping and relationship analysis can reveal investigative opportunities that may be missed when reports are considered separately.
Your instruction concludes with a professional output proportionate to the work agreed.
This may be an Incident Assessment Report, Investigation Report or Intelligence Report, with evidence schedules, timelines, mapping and other analytical products where they improve understanding.
Our reports distinguish established facts, evidence, intelligence and professional assessment. We explain what can reasonably be concluded, the limitations of the information and any further enquiries that may be justified.
Where appropriate, findings can support referral to legal advisers, insurers, councils, regulators or enforcement bodies and subsequent legal proceedings. Intelligence is not automatically admissible evidence, and an investigation cannot guarantee identification, prosecution or recovery of costs.
Where fly-tipping persists, we review historical incidents, access routes, vulnerabilities and existing preventative measures. Recommendations follow the evidence about your particular problem.
Explore an estate-wide crime review ↗We also provide tailored staff briefings and training on evidence preservation, incident recording and effective reporting.
Note the location, discovery time, approximate extent of the waste and any relevant observations. From a safe position, photographs showing the wider scene and access route may be useful. Do not approach suspects or search through potentially hazardous waste.
Use the appropriate reporting route and retain the reference number, original photographs and any relevant existing CCTV. Before clearance, check whether the investigating authority requires an opportunity to examine the evidence. Follow its advice where there is an immediate risk.
Send Sentinel a brief outline of the incident, its broad location and whether it has happened before. We can assess whether a defined investigation, analysis or prevention assignment would be useful. Please agree arrangements with us before sending sensitive evidence.
Official guidance: report fly-tipping and waste crime; waste on land in England; fly-tipped waste on your land in Wales.
Yes, subject to assessment and an agreed scope. We can support farmers, landowners, estates and organisations with a single incident or recurring activity. What is achievable depends on the evidence available and the legitimate enquiries it supports.
We can assess retained photographs, CCTV, witness information, reports and other records. Clearance may remove investigative opportunities, so the available material and its limitations need to be considered at the outset.
Sentinel provides investigation, intelligence and consultancy. Waste removal requires an appropriately authorised contractor. We do not hold statutory enforcement powers; we can prepare findings for referral to the relevant authority where appropriate.
We can provide a defined piece of investigative or analytical support alongside an existing team, subject to lawful information sharing, agreed responsibilities and the applicable procurement arrangements.
Each engagement is individually scoped. We agree the work, deliverables and fees before it begins, reflecting the circumstances and available evidence.