A ST ALBANS composting company was found to be mixing an "enormous quantity of concrete and rubble" in with its green waste, a public inquiry at County Hall in Hertford was told this week.

The company, EQ Waste Management, of Appspond Lane, is alleged to have breached two conditions of its planning consent by importing non-organic waste material onto the composting site, and for using it for waste recycling. The company is appealing against enforcement action by Hertfordshire County Council.

Landowner CP Holdings is also appealing after planning permission to turn a separate part of the site into a vehicle storage depot was refused.

But counsel for the county council, Ms Nathalie Lieven, said it had photographic evidence showing a transfer of materials across the whole of the area owned by CP Holdings, including Longfield Spring woodland.

She said: "Within the wood there are the remains of large quantities of very small pieces of painted material, plastic, veneer and painted wood."

Ms Joanne Molyneux, counsel for CP Holdings, said it was a mulch used as part of its management strategy to prevent plant growth around tree roots.

She added: "It depends on your definition of waste," before admitting she had not visited the site since the summer of 2000, and could not give a first-hand account of the wood's ground conditions.

Turning to the evidence on EQ Waste Management's alleged licence breaches, counsel for the company, Mr Rhodri Price-Lewis, argued it was bringing in topsoil to mix with composted waste to produce a saleable product, as part of a recognised process.

He added: "Hertfordshire County Council should double existing composting and recycling rates by 2003.

"We provide a facility which is needed now and will be needed even more in the future if the Government waste strategy is to succeed."

The inquiry centred on arguments over what materials were integral to the composting process, and the heights of material being stored and processed.

Mr Price-Lewis said their original planning application had only specified green waste being stacked to a height of four metres, while other materials could be stacked to a greater height.

However, Mr Robert Egan, county council enforcement officer, told the inquiry that he saw material piled up to 12 metres high on a number of site visits and the "spirit of that condition intended it to apply to all materials.

"There were enormous quantities of concrete and rubble, and contrary material in the form of shredded plastic."

He added the piles also included waste subsoil, stones, bricks, plastic bags, and metal, rather than just topsoil, and there was a liquid leaching from the piles into the nearby woodland.

The inquiry also heard evidence against the composting company from Mr Barrie Mort, chairman of the Verulam Estate Residents' Association, and Mr Colin Farrier, chairman of St Michael's Parish Council.

The judgement is expected within the next two months.