A leading councillor has slammed several agencies – including his own council – over failures in shutting down an industrial-sized scrapyard.

And now Stuart Tranter is calling on the government to get involved in the five-year saga of Brambletree Wharf in Borstal near Rochester.

The riverside site, which is in an area of outstanding natural beauty, was marsh and farmland but is now a major scrapyard and tip in the shadow of the M2 motorway bridge.

With reports of up to 40 lorries a day unloading building waste and skips full of household materials, there are fears it could be polluting the water.

Cllr Tranter, whose Rochester West ward includes the affected land, is furious the authorities have failed to sort the situation out.

And he claims there have been attempts to silence him by Medway Council officers who he says told him "not to interfere" or speak out because it could "affect the investigation".

But the Tory has taken the step of publishing a public letter attacking his own local authority, the Environment Agency (EA), police and the DVSA.

He's become more disillusioned as the saga has seemingly no end in sight.

In December, we reported how an enforcement notice had been served on the owner/occupier to "cease the use of the land" and "restore it to its original condition".

But the owner, who has previously been fined for allowing waste to be illegally dumped on the land, has since appealed.

The matter is now in the hands of the Planning Inspectorate.

Last year a spokesman for him told the BBC he was bringing in topsoil for his part of the land to help grow grass for horses.

He added he was in the process of trying to evict skip companies who rent the land next to where the waste is being deposited.

Cllr Tranter also says people living nearby have been left anxious by ongoing problems related to the site.

He's approached the police for help but no officers have been able to speak to the locals about their concerns.

He said: "I call on the government to launch a full investigation into the combined lack of effectiveness of the agencies and tell the public why five years on, nothing has happened to stop this.

"I am tired of being told it is 'so complicated' and to keep quiet. How many years do they need to fix it?

"Why can't the site just be closed down? Who is going to pay to restore the damage?"

Responding to Cllr Tranter's letter, an EA spokesman said: “We are working with Medway Council to investigate.

“We keep all enforcement options under constant review, and are grateful to members of the public who contacted us about the site."

A DVSA spokesman said: “We encourage reports of commercial vehicle operators who are not meeting their operator licence requirements and are posing a risk to road safety. All information received by DVSA is analysed and treated in a sensitive manner."

Police declined to comment on Cllr Tranter's concerns they were not doing enough, as did Medway Council on his claims he had been "silenced" by officers, or accusations it was not working well with other agencies.

Fellow ward councillor Alex Paterson added: "It is not a great mystery why this investigation has taken so long. If conservative councillors and MPs cannot join the dots, I will do it for them.

"We have an Environment Agency which has had its budget slashed over many years. Its environment protection budget is less than half of what it was under the last labour government.

"Meanwhile we see police cuts. They want to fight it but they do not have the resources.

"If we want to understand why it has taken an unreasonable long time, then the councillors should look in the mirror."

The EA says anyone with concerns or information, can call 0800 807060 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111 with information treated anonymously.