THREE pensioners have been told by a judge that if they do not stop polluting Aberarth then they would go to jail despite their ages.

Judge Geraint Walters described Kenneth Davies, aged 71, his partner Jeanette Davies, 69, and 68-year-old Evan Evans as people who had turned parts of that "picturesque village into something out of Steptoe and Son."

Kenneth Davies was said at Swansea crown court to be the leader of the three who developed illegal refuse tips at land known as The Smithey and Arthur's Field.

Lee Reynolds, prosecuting, said Natural Resources Wales had been trying for years to get the sites cleaned up.

A "fly by" by a Dyfed Powys police helicopter in 2015 alerted the organisation that the Davieses were at it again, this time with the help of Evan Evans.

Mr Reynolds said that when "desist and clean up" orders had been issued over the years the Davieses simply ignored them, set a fire and later imported even more waste.

That included, at any one time, 40 cars and 20 caravans, plus tons of children's toys, bathrooms, windows, fridges and other indiscriminate waste that included, on a particular day, between 40 and 50 "highly inflammable gas cylinders."

Mr Reynolds said the mountains of waste were so high it was impossible to identity how many gas cylinders were there, but an expert from the local fire service described all of them as potential bombs, especially as the Davieses tended to deal with warnings by starting fires.

Mr Reynolds said the pollution caused by the fires led to at least two local residents being allowed by the police to submit victim impact statements to the court because of the fumes they had had to put up with.

The court heard that Jeanette Davies, who admitted two offences of knowingly allowing land she owned to be used as illegal dumps, viewed Kenneth Davies as an obsessive hoarder "who would not throw anything away."

Kenneth Davies and Evan Evans admitted using both sites for the illegal processing of waste.

The court heard that since the prosecution had been launched Jeanette Evans had spent £15,000 on cleaning up the sites.

Mr Reynolds interjected in the sentencing process to "make it quite clear" that unless more cleaning up was done then further prosecutions would be instigated.

Judge Geraint Walters said he agreed that the suspended sentences he was about to pass could be impacted upon--and therefore put into effect--if the Davieses in particular were found guilty of further offending.

Kenneth Davies, who lives at The Smithey, was jailed for 18 months, Jeanette Davies, of Arosfa, Aberarth, for nine months and Evan Evans, of Blaencrown, Aberarth, for 12 months, all sentences suspended for two years.

Mr Reynolds said a Proceeds of Crime investigation was already underway, which could lead to the recovery of money made illegally, and Judge Walters laid down a time table for the defendants to respond to questions about their financial situations.

Jeanette Davies had certainly received money from the illegal waste sites, said Mr Reynolds,

Judge Walters said the trio "could not have cared less" about living in a picturesque village and close to sites of scientific interest.

"There are reasons why we have laws, and permits relating to activities about waste products.

"I am surprised that you could have lacked so little pride that you treated these sites as some sort of Steptoe's yard," he said.

Judge Walters told them if they ever came back to Swansea crown court they would be leaving by the door at the back of the dock.