Rubbish mountain which towered over homes in south east London is finally cleared

A huge mountain of waste which plagued residents' lives has finally been cleared.

Residents said living next to the 40 foot high stinking mound was a "living nightmare". The site located near the A20 Sidcup bypass also regularly caught fire.

Between 2012 and August 2015, the London Fire Brigade spent almost £1 million dealing with 233 incidents at the rubbish mountain.

In 2014 the owners were prosecuted and fined for stacking flammable material in an illegal manner and two years later Bromley Council and the Environment Agency spent £2.7million to acquire the site.

Now the 27,000 tonnes of rubbish has been removed from the site in St Paul's Cray.

It has taken over a year to clear the dump which took longer than expected because it contained more waste than estimated.

The works were also delayed in March this year after contaminated waste was found at the bottom of the pile.