Telford recycling plant is all locked up after High Court order

Greenway Waste Recycling is now facing an uncertain future after the action, which has seen a legal order issued for the forfeiture of the site.

The company moved into the site in Recycling House in Rock Road in Ketley, Telford, in 2014, filling the void left by another recycling business Pink Skips that went bust. The company is yet to comment on the issue.

Officials from the Sheriff's Office – a private enforcement company – have pinned notices to the gates ordering the property to be seized. The notice says that Greenway has until February 1 to remove any goods from the building, or officials will "treat the goods as abandoned".

It also claims any attempt to enter the premises will result in legal action.

Greenway faced demonstrations last month as protesters spoke out against plans to expand the business that would have seen more lorries use the site and the entrance widened.

The company has been operating under a creditors voluntary arrangement since 2014, which is a system which allows companies to repay money they owe without entering administration or liquidation.

In total it had been scheduled to pay £4.7 million between 2014 and 2019, and has so far repaid more than £1.2m to HMRC and AEB.

Greenway has been repaying that money, a document filed with Companies House shows, but was forced to repay smaller sums of £10,000 for two months last year, and had been looking to adjust its repayments.

In the document, accountants from Northern Irish firm Baker Tilly Mooney Moore said: "The company has advised they are not in a position to continue with monthly contributions as scheduled."

Representatives from Baker Tilley Mooney Moore declined to comment on the company's case. Greenway's registered office is now listed with a solicitors firm in Oxfordshire. That firm has been approached for comment.

Residents of Lawley, Overdale and Ketley joined together to march against the expansion plans last month. Local people said the smell from the site was "disgusting" and that they were faced with rat problems. There are more than 50 comments objecting to the plans on Telford & Wrekin Council's website.