A recycling company in Alloa has been been ordered to pay almost £350,000, the largest confiscation order ever made in Scotland for environmental offending.

At Alloa Sheriff Court on Monday, Oran Environmental Solutions ltd was also fined a total of £12,000 for keeping controlled waste without a licence in a manner likely to encourage birds and vermin.

The £345,558.43 confiscation order was for licence breaches which resulted in the Scottish Evironmental Protection Agency (Sepa) receiving numerous complaints from local residents during 2013.

The offences took place at the company’s facility at Kilbagie Mill, where it collected and treated waste and recycled cardboard, paper, aluminium, wood and metals.

During the course of Sepa inspections in 2013, it was found that the company were using a non-licensed area of the site to store additional waste.

This waste was stored in large unsegregated stockpiles, skips and bins, with some piles reaching 10ft tall.

Sepa officials had raised concerns about the presence of leachate, a harmful effluent, at the site. Some local residents felt the site was attracting birds and vermin and said they couldn't open their windows due to the large number of flies in the area.

The Crown Office said the confiscation order represents the full benefit the company made from failing to comply with the legislation and fees they avoided with their failings.

Calum MacDonald, Sepa's executive director, said: "We note the sentence handed out today against Oran Environmental Solutions Ltd and the confiscation order for £345,558.43 - the largest single POCA confiscation for environmental crime in Scotland to date.

"This sends out a clear and unequivocal message that environmental crime will not be tolerated and that SEPA will with its partners pursue those who seek to profit from waste crime.

"Compliance within the waste industry is non-negotiable and we will continue to take effective and proportionate action as required to tackle non-compliant waste operators.

"The confiscation order reflects the costs avoided by the company in undertaking these illegal activities and is the result of close collaborative working arrangements between SEPA and the Crown Office."