A Christian Salvesen pea processing factory was fined £17,000 last week after it pleaded guilty to polluting a waterway.

The company admitted three charges, which arose after it polluted a drain in Bourne, near Lincolnshire, killing hundreds of fish.

‘Black, bubbling liquid’, peas, pea pods, and hundreds of dead and gasping fish were found up to two miles downstream of the plant, which was found to have been discharging contaminated water into a drain instead of clean water when the incident occurred, in July 2006.

In a statement, the company said that the incident was ‘outside its control’ as it took place following ‘unusual processing issues and abnormal weather conditions’.

It went on to say that the company had immediately put into effect ‘procedures to mitigate the impact’ of the pollution, working closely with the Environment Agency to minimise the effects.

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