Lee and David Averies

Even if we were not rightly forbidden from doing so by law, we would still refrain.

As with any other people charged with criminal offences, the brothers are at this moment absolutely innocent, and will remain so unless and until the court determines otherwise.

In any case, the affair has raised far more important issues than any which might emerge during evidence.

Whatever the eventual outcome of the criminal case, it is a matter of plain record that one dump was the location of a fire which burned for weeks and another was left stacked with garbage.

The fire caused misery to hundreds if not thousands of local people, while the cost of clearing the other site must ultimately be met from public funds.

Neither of these states of affairs developed in a vacuum. Waste disposal sites are rightly bound by very stringent regulations, and those regulations are supposed to be rigidly enforced by specialist public officials.

It seems quite obvious that in these instances - and we stress once more that we offer no comment on the allegations of criminality - something went seriously wrong with the enforcement process.

In a very real sense, the outcome of the case against the Averies brothers is of little or no significance as it will not make the fire or the expensive clean-up un-happen.

The vital matter now is that measures should be taken to ensure there is no risk of similar problems arising in the future.