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Neighbor's Illegal Riverbank Digging Destroys Habitat, Defies Environment Agency
16 Oct
Summary
- Neighbor digs up riverbank without permits, despite complaints
- Destroys trees and wildlife habitat, including for kingfishers
- Environment Agency warned him in 2021 and 2025 to stop the work
In October 2025, a dispute over illegal riverbank digging in Bolton, Greater Manchester has escalated, with the Environment Agency ordering a neighbor to stop the unauthorized work. Resident Andrea Marland, who lives alongside the River Tonge, says neighboring landowner Sam Bancroft has been digging away part of the riverbank belonging to her, destroying trees and wildlife habitat in the process.
Marland and other local residents have been complaining about Bancroft's actions for the past four years, but the Environment Agency has only recently taken enforcement action. The agency says it warned Bancroft in 2021 and 2025 that he did not have the necessary permits to carry out the riverbank excavation, which he claims is essential to protect his own land from erosion.
