FINES have been handed out to two companies for polluting a brook causing fish to die.

Food manufacturer Elisabeth The Chef from Lower Broadheath and engineering company Civil Environmental Project Services from Bidford-upon-Avon were found to have caused trade effluent to pollute 3km of Laugherne Brook in Worcester in September 2017 through a prosecution brought by the Environment Agency.

The Environment Agency was initially alerted on September 5, 2017 by members of the public with reports that Laugherne Brook was cloudy and dead fish were on its surface.

Eighty-six dead fish were counted in the accessible sections of Laugherne Brook, and the Environment Agency estimates hundreds were killed of the water discharge.

In a case held at Worcester Crown Court on Thursday, October 24, the two companies were ordered to pay fines and costs in excess of £90,000.

Environment officer for the Environment Agency, Kelly Horsley, said: "We welcome this sentence as this was a serious pollution which caused considerable disruption besides fish deaths. 

"The Environment Agency will pursue any company that fails to uphold the law or protect nature and will continue to press for the strongest possible penalties. 

"Failure to comply with these legal requirements is a serious offence that can damage the environment and harm human health."

The charge against Elisabeth The Chef and Civil Environmental Project Services states that both companies caused a water discharge activity between September 1 and 5 in 2017, namely polluting trade effluent into a ditch adjacent to and joining Laugherne Brook.

Elisabeth The Chef was ordered to pay prosecution costs of £52,000 and received a fine of £18,000.

Civil Environmental Project Services was ordered to pay prosecution costs of £20,000 and received a fine of £4,000.

During the hearing, the court was told that the incident was the result of human and corporate failings.

A Civil Environmental Project Services employee, who was attending Elisabeth The Chef's site, failed to switch on pumps within the pumping station after maintenance work.

This caused trade effluent to build up in the pumpwell rather than being sent to the foul sewer, causing overflow into the containment lagoon which filled up and flower through a broken sluice gate into Laugherne Brook.