Four people have been arrested and property has been seized in two separate dawn raids on waste sites in Somerset, as part of a crackdown by the Environment Agency and Avon & Somerset Police on waste crime and theft.

The first raid, Operation Centurion, saw Environment Agency (EA) officers, supported by police, descend on a site at the old airfield in Weston Zoyland, near Bridgewater, to investigate reports of waste crime relating to the disposal and treatment of scrap metal, as well as suspicions of theft.

The operation, in which one was arrested, was assisted by several agencies such as the Devon & Somerset fire service, Sedgemoor District Council, Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) and Western Power. Wessex Water also attended to ensure no further environmental offences had been committed.

A second raid, Operation Iris, saw a further three people arrested near Glastonbury as part of a nation-wide crackdown on metal theft targeting ‘high priority’ scrap metal sites, known as Operation Tornado.

EA officers, accompanied by enforcement officers from Mendip District Council, British Transport Police and Network Rail, found ‘evidence of waste crime’ which prompted the arrests and seized suspicious items such as high voltage power cables and catalytic converters.

Coordinated by the SW Environmental Crime Team and assisted by more than a dozen EA officers and around 30 Avon & Somerset police officers – including a police helicopter used to monitor the operation and take aerial photographs – this larger operation was undertaken in response to ‘months of investigation and intelligence gathering’.

Both properties were trading as unregistered and unlicensed scrap dealers and waste sites. All suspects have now been bailed, pending trial in February 2013.

Speaking after the raids, a spokesperson for the EA's South-West Regional Environmental Crime Team said: "The Environment Agency is working closely with the police to help combat metal thefts and waste crime that have a big impact on the community.

"Operation Iris is the culmination of a period of intelligence gathering and collaboration between The Agency and Avon and Somerset Police, assisted by partner organisations. We will continue to use our powers under the waste legislation to target illegal sites and prosecute offenders."

Environment Protection Officers accompanied mobile patrols in Gloucester checking documentation and licensing while officers also visited scrap yards to make compliance checks as part of the on-going Operation Tornado, which launched in June.

A 37 year old Gloucester man was also arrested for Theft and Fraud on behalf of Avon and Somerset Police following an incident at a waste centre in Bristol. He has been bailed pending further enquiries.

Superintendant Mark Saunders, Avon and Somerset Police's regional lead tackling metal theft said: "This week of action has been incredibly successful. We have seized stolen property, made arrests and supported our partner agencies in tackling metal theft and related crime using a variety of powers available to us.

"It has also been a very effective intelligence gathering process, which will help further future investigations... We will continue to work with our police colleagues, partner agencies and commercial industries to take an intrusive approach in dealing with the thieves and handlers who make money at a cost to each and every tax payer."

The raids follow on from calls to ban all cash transactions at metal recycling yards across England and Wales, and come after the arrest of 10 people in what has been described as the ‘largest ever’ hazardous waste raid, in Avonmouth, Bristol, earlier this month.