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Two brothers on trial for dumping waste on farmland have told a court they had permission to do so.

Nigel and Phillip England said they were allowed to fill in a 100 metre-wide hole at Pwll-y-Darren Farm, Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan, to make it more manageable for growing crops.

Cardiff Crown Court heard 25,000 tonnes of waste was dumped by their Siteserv waste management firm based at Llandow.

The brothers deny charges of illegally dumping waste.

The former Environment Agency Wales alleged the hole was filled with kerbside waste which had come, it said, from Siteserv.

But the two men denied this and said the area, known as 40 Acre Field, was filled in with subsoil from a nearby Cowbridge flood alleviation scheme and their own quarrying operation, for which they had permission.

Natural Resources Wales, which replaced Environment Agency Wales, said 25,000 tonnes of waste may have been buried illegally.

David Elias, defending, asked Phillip England: "Was black bag waste ever deposited on that field?"

"Never," he said.

"It was filled with soil to make the field more manageable, so we could crop it.

"You couldn't get farm machinery on it before. Now it's got barley and corn grain growing on it."

The brothers admitted depositing 485 tonnes of waste from Siteserv on the land, but said it was inert [not likely to be dangerous or react to the soil].

Phillip England told the jury the pile of window frames and metal in pictures they were shown had not been dumped but were waiting to be picked up for recycling.

The trial continues.