For the farms, smallholdings and equestrian yards on the rural side of the Wirral, Bebington fallen stock collection needs to be quick, fully licensed and dependable. Martlands is a family-run, DEFRA approved fallen stock and animal by-products business based in Burscough, Lancashire, and our fallen stock and ABP collection service covers the whole Wirral peninsula, from Bebington and Higher Bebington out across the grazing land towards Storeton, Brimstage and Thornton Hough. When an animal dies on your land the law requires it to be removed promptly and through a properly licensed route, and that is exactly what our local service is built to deliver.
Licensed fallen stock collection for Bebington and the rural Wirral
Bebington itself is a busy part of the Wirral, but the ground on its southern and western edges, around Storeton, Brimstage and Thornton Hough, is open farming country, and it is here that beef and sheep are run alongside the smallholdings and livery yards that are so common on the peninsula. Wherever livestock is kept, losses are unavoidable, and each one carries a legal duty. A fallen animal is not ordinary waste that can go in a skip or be dealt with on the quiet; it is a Category 1 or Category 2 animal by-product that must be handled through a licensed collector, and getting that wrong puts a keeper at risk of penalties and the surrounding holdings at risk of disease.
The legal position on fallen stock in Bebington
Anyone keeping cattle, sheep, pigs, goats, horses, alpacas or poultry around Bebington is personally responsible for the correct disposal of their own fallen stock. On-farm burial and burning have been banned across the United Kingdom since 2003, with only very narrow exemptions for genuinely remote areas that do not apply anywhere on the Wirral. Under the Animal By-Products (Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2013, fallen stock must be collected, identified and transported without undue delay, which in practice means arranging removal within twenty-four hours of discovery. Burying a carcass, leaving it out or moving it through an unlicensed route is an offence that can bring a fine and an Animal and Plant Health Agency investigation, so using a licensed collector is simply the safe and correct way to meet the rule.
What counts as fallen stock on a Wirral holding
Fallen stock means any farmed animal that has died on your premises, whether from illness, injury, a difficult calving or lambing, or old age, together with any animal humanely destroyed on welfare grounds. On the holdings around Bebington that might be a horse or pony from one of the many equestrian yards, a few sheep off the grazing towards Storeton, a beef animal or a backyard flock, but the rules are the same whatever the species and however few the numbers. Martlands is licensed to collect and handle all three animal by-product categories, so one phone call covers every situation, from a fallen ewe to a euthanised horse, and you are never left trying to work out which operator deals with which kind of animal.
Same-day collection across the Wirral peninsula
Speed is what fallen stock collection is really about, both for staying within the twenty-four hour rule and for the simple reason that a carcass left out in warm weather quickly becomes a welfare, hygiene and vermin problem. Bebington is well placed for a fast response, sitting close to junctions four and five of the M53 and the A41 New Chester Road, and our fleet works the Wirral regularly on the route back to our Lancashire base. That access is what lets us keep to a same-day collection in most cases rather than leaving a keeper waiting for a collector to pass through. Every job is logged and tracked on the KoLeCt system, so the collection is recorded accurately from the first call right through to disposal.
BSE testing and DEFRA approved sampling
Where a fallen animal is bovine and over forty-eight months of age, there is an extra legal step. These cattle must be sampled for transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, the group of conditions that includes BSE, as part of national surveillance before the carcass can be processed. Martlands operates as a DEFRA approved sampling centre, which means the brain stem sample required for TSE surveillance is taken under approved conditions as a routine part of our collection. For a Bebington keeper with an older cow or bull, that removes a complication that would otherwise involve arranging a separate sampling site; we handle the collection and the sampling together, correctly and in one visit.
The documentation behind every collection
Every collection we carry out comes with a Commercial Document and, where it applies, a Waste Transfer Note. This paperwork is your proof that the animal left your holding through a licensed route, and it is precisely what a Red Tractor assessor, a local authority officer or an APHA inspector will look for if your records are ever checked. The same documents support ISO 14001 environmental reporting and sustainability records where a keeper needs them. Martlands is a member of the National Fallen Stock Company, and our Waste Carrier Licence, Site Licence and Animal By-Products Licence are all current and provided on request, so the whole chain of disposal stands up to scrutiny from start to finish.
Fallen stock collection across the wider Wirral
Bebington is one of many communities we serve on the peninsula, and the same licensed, DEFRA approved service runs right across it. We operate dedicated local pages for nearby areas including Birkenhead fallen stock collection, Caldy fallen stock collection, Hoylake fallen stock collection and Neston fallen stock collection. For an overview of how we cover the whole peninsula, our Wirral fallen stock collection service page sets it out in full, and our farm and fallen stock collection service explains the process from the first call to final disposal.
Arrange a Bebington collection today
When you lose an animal the priority is prompt, legal removal with the right paperwork behind it, and a licensed collector is there to take that worry off your hands. If you want to understand the urgency and the rules a little more, our guidance on emergency fallen stock collection and on how ABP collection supports biosecurity are both worth a read. When you are ready to book a collection in or around Bebington, call Martlands on 01704 776977 or visit our contact us page for a prompt response and a tailored quote.
