BOSSES of a Barrow skip hire firm and waste company have refused to comment after they were found to be carrying out work without planning permission.

Cumbria County Council has issued a legal 'stop notice' to Barrow-based firm JJC after the company was found to have carried out engineering works and dumping waste at an industrial site in Barrow.

County council officers discovered JJC had been depositing and storing waste at the former Partylite site off Park Road in Barrow. The company does not have planning permission to carry out any work at the site.

A spokesperson for Cumbria County Council said: “The council can confirm a temporary stop notice has been issued to a company relating to engineering works and the deposit and storage of waste at former Partylite premises in Barrow.

"These works require planning permission and the firm has been told it must secure planning consent before any further work can be undertaken on site.”

The Evening Mail contacted JJC boss John Cooper, who insisted he had "no comment" to make regarding the stop notice.

When asked if he was denying carrying out any work at Partylite, Mr Cooper repeated his "no comment" response.

JJC is based at Park Road in Barrow. The firm hires skips and carries out waste disposal and removal on a commercial basis.

In 2010, the Environment Agency launched an investigation into Mr Cooper's skip hire company, JJC Properties, after discovering he did not have a waste permit.

The compulsory permit is required in order to store and remove waste for commercial purposes.

Cooper admitted failing to comply with environmental laws. In 2011, he was fined £350, the company was fined £7,000 and he was also ordered to pay £2,229 costs.

Three years later, Cooper was brought back before the courts after failing to pay the amounts ordered by magistrates.