An empty multi-million pound business park looks like "an apocalypse" after tonnes of rubbish and a caravan was dumped on the site by people living there.

Brocastle Business Park in Bridgend was built in 2021 with £10m from the Welsh government, but locals said about 100 people living in 40 caravans were there for several months.

The park, which has sat empty for five years, has rubble, garden waste, black bags and an old caravan strewn across the vast site.

"It felt like an apocalypse was happening," said the owner of a nearby beauty shop.

The Welsh government said it was an unauthorised occupation and fly-tipping was a crime, adding that steps to remove the waste were under way.

The business park sits on the A48 just outside Bridgend and business owners in the area told the BBC there had been three unauthorised encampments there in the past year that had grown in size each time.

"You could hear all the noise, some guy spoke about Jesus all night. There were horses and carts racing down," the beauty shop owner, who did not want to be named, said.

"People were having sex by the care home."

Their partner said: "The first time there were a few caravans for weeks, one exploded and they left."

He said the pair "slept with one eye open" and the site "looks like grenades have exploded the caravans".

Brocastle Manor Care Home has been approached for comment.

Rob Evans, who runs Pheasant Acre Plants near the site, said: "With people fly-tipping, and the amount of rubbish seen by everybody I'm worried more might do it.

"How could they leave so much rubbish in one area? We know there's been people there for quite a few months. But over that time they've been in and around the area, there's build up."

Evans, who has won 10 consecutive gold medals at the RHS Chelsea flower show, said: "We see rubbish now in the lanes, it just needs to be cleared up as soon as possible.

"I was coming back from agricultural shows, like the Royal Welsh and could see rubbish getting worse, for my business it isn't good after working so hard."

Rubbish has been left dumped across the 110-acre site - the equivalent of 11 football pitches - and even though it is not piled high there is not an area of the site without fly-tipped waste.

Locals said it included rubble, large gas canisters, car seats, children's toys, batteries, solar panels and furniture.

A dog walker, who asked not to be named, said: "Nobody knew the scale of what was happening down here because locals felt too scared to come down.

"There's got to be more than 100 tonnes of rubbish here and it's going to be costly to clear up."

They said it stopped most people walking their pets there and the state of the business park was "shocking".

The business park was built to give an economic boost to the area, with the site getting £10m of taxpayers' money from the Welsh government with the aim of creating thousands of jobs.

However, despite nine plots of land, not a single business has moved in and there is no signs of any jobs coming.

An additional £2m was also given to the project to link the site to Waterton with an active travel route, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

At the time of its completion, then-Economy Minister Vaughan Gething said "significant investment" had been made in the hope of creating "many new jobs".

However, despite the completion of key roads and provision for nine plots at the site, none appear to have been used with marketing agents still showing them as being available.

The Welsh government, which manages the land, said: "Fly-tipping is a crime and is never justified under any circumstances. We continue to target those who chose to break the law and pollute our environment.

"The Brocastle Business Park land has been subject to unauthorised occupation. The occupants have recently vacated and steps to re-secure and remove the waste from site are under way."

Knight Frank and JLL, the agents behind the sale of the site, have been contacted for comment.

Bridgend council did not respond when asked to comment.

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