Newmarket trainers left to muck in as town's manure clearance company ceases trading

A number of leading Newmarket trainers, including Charlie Appleby and Saeed bin Suroor, will have to literally clear up their own stables' mess from Friday when one of the two manure clearance companies that cover the town is to cease trading after over 40 years.

Alwyn Moss, who operates five lorries out of West Row near Mildenhall, has taken away used stable bedding for Newmarket trainers since the 1980s and currently has around 20 stables on his books including Godolphin, Gay Kelleway, Marco Botti, John Ryan and Jon Scargill.

Newmarket stables and studs generate around 25,000 tonnes of waste a year and the only other company that operates such services is Greenways Recycling from Bury St Edmunds. Not surprisingly, it has already been inundated with phone calls from some of those on the company's books who will be affected from this weekend onwards.

An Alwyn Moss lorry

Moss revealed to the Racing Post that a combination of factors has led to his decision to cease trading.

He said: "I feel bad about letting people down but I'm 75 and I've no-one to leave the business to. The biggest problem in recent years is finding drivers who are any good. You've got to realise that our vehicles are moving around high-value animals, and to find people with the know-how these days is virtually impossible.

"Brexit didn't help because we used to have some overseas staff but they've now gone. Those who are around have gone for the easy job driving an articulated lorry up and down a motorway all day."

He added: "I would have sold the business but I've had no takers. There is now only one company left that now can charge what they want. The big problem is where does it all go to.

"Most of the material we collect goes to Thetford EPR power station, which has been breaking down of late. I had contacts in the farming world but sometimes it's hard to convince farmers that putting this stuff on their land will enhance it, but it does."

Hugh Anderson, managing director of Godolphin, said: "We've used Alwyn Moss for a number of years and we're sad he is to close. We're currently exploring alternative arrangements."

Gay Kelleway: "I don't know what we're going to do"Credit: Edward Whitaker

Kelleway said: "I had an email from Alywn Moss out of the blue last week telling me he's going to cease trading on September 29. I rang Greenways and they said I was the sixth trainer to ring and I would go on the list but I don't know what that means.

"We need muck lorries to shift our muck heap as we've no land to spread it on and I don't know what we're going to do – this could put me out of business potentially. The Jockey Club said they were going to build their own recycling place a few years ago but it's still not built."

As long ago as 2011 a company named GE Eco Solutions put in a planning application to build a recycling facility on Jockey Club Estates land at Southfields Farm off the Hamilton Road, but the scheme was dropped.

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