New recycling laws have seen a rise in conmen preying on businesses by running illegal tyre dumping scams, according to a BBC Wales investigation.
One scam saw tyres being collected for a fee from garages, then abandoned in storage, leaving owners with huge clean-up bills, it is claimed.
Victims criticised the Environment Agency on Taro 9 - produced by BBC Wales for S4C - for a lack of help.
The agency said taxpayers should not pay to clean up private land.
Taro 9 said schemes were being run which took advantage of a recent EU directive stating tyres could no longer be disposed of in landfill sites.
This means garages have to ensure tyres are taken away for recycling.
One north Wales couple advertised themselves as a legitimate business picking up used tyres from garages across the region for a fee, said Taro 9.
Businesses or individuals with storage units on their land were contacted and arrangements were made to store the tyres.
However, the couple then allegedly abandoned the tyres, said the programme.
Gwlithyn Owen, from Denbighshire, claimed more than 3,000 tyres were left on her property.
She said: "The Environment Agency didn't help us, even though we helped them. It cost us three grand [£3,000] to get rid of all those tyres.
"It makes you feel as if you wouldn't help them ever again. You'd rather deal with the problem yourself and just not bother letting them know."
Maria Burt, from Towyn, Conwy county, said she was left with 20,000 tyres at her property.
She added: "It's been a constant worry. Every morning you wake up and it's on your mind all the time. How can you get rid of the tyres?
"Because of the nature of what you've got here you can't just dump it or sell it on or burn it.
"The only way of getting rid of them is the legal way and get a company in."
She said the Environment Agency expected her to pay more than £20,000 to clear her land.
Environment Agency spokesman Iwan Williams said: "We are willing to work with the public to ensure that we dispose of these tyres in a responsible way.
"But the taxpayer shouldn't have to pay for the disposal of tyres from private land."
Taro Naw said the couple escaped arrest by going to Majorca. The programme was unable to contact them to get a response to the allegations against them.
It is estimated that it costs local authorities in the UK around £1.65m a year to clear illegally disposed tyres.
Source: BBC NEWS
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