A BUSINESSMAN who helped create a ‘plague of flies’ in Oswaldtwistle has admitted letting illegal waste be dumped on his land.

Company consultant Arthur Morgan, of The Foxwood, Chorley, admitted knowingly allowing the flytipping of waste at the former Nipa Laboratories site in Nook Lane, between June 13 and August 14, 2012.

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The decaying rubbish caused huge swarms of flies, leading to an emergency meeting where more than 400 people claimed their lives had been made ‘intolerable’.

The 57-year-old, labelled the ‘bane of Oswaldtwistle’ by local councillor Peter Britcliffe, originally pleaded not guilty at a hearing in October, but changed his plea at Burnley Crown Court on Friday.

He was prosecuted by the Environment Agency and is due to be sentenced onApril 20.

Morgan also admitted allow-ing 5,000 tonnes of waste to be dumped beside railway tracks in Liverpool between November 2011 and January 2012.

Cllr Britcliffe said: “I’m glad he has pleaded guilty. The incident caused enormous problems for people here.

“We were absolutely over-run with a plague of flies and Morgan caused a lot of discomfort to people who had to keep their doors and windows shut for most of the summer.

“I think people will welcome the fact that as last this case is being brought to an end. People have not forgotten.”

Residents reported surfaces, including floors and tables, being covered with dead flies overnight and said they were unable to sleep or eat without insects landing on them.

One shop alone sold 1,000 fly papers and 200 spray bottles in five days instead of the usual one or two per week.

Council leader Miles Parkinson said: “I’m glad to see the appropriate action taken. This will be a reminder for landowners that they can’t allow material to be dumped on their land.”

Wigan-based Blakeley’s Waste Management and former managing director Stephen Blakeley admitted illegally flytipping at Burnley Crown Court last October.