Swindon farmer Andrew Freeston fined for polluting brook

The source of pollution was found to be a pipe discharging slurry to the brook

A farmer has been ordered to pay a fine after pleading guilty to allowing slurry to pollute a brook.

Andrew Freeston, 68, of Smith's Farm near Swindon, admitted the offence at Swindon Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.

He was charged with causing pollution to enter the Cowage Brook between November 2020 and January 2021.

Freeston was ordered to pay a fine of £1,018, a £102 surcharge, and £1,000 in costs.

The court heard that in November 2020, following reports of the pollution in Cowage Brook, an officer from the Environment Agency attended Smith's Farm.  

Despite officers informing Freeston of the serious pollution, he refused to engage with officers

The source of the pollution was found to be a pipe that was discharging the slurry into the brook.

The discharge had caused elevated ammonia in the watercourse, reduced biochemical oxygen demand, and extensive sewage fungus growth, the court heard.

Following the initial visit Freeston, a Wiltshire Council tenant farmer at Smith's Farm for 43 years, cleaned out the ditch but did not take any action to find or stop the pollution. 

Officers returned to the site in December 2020 and found the watercourse had been polluted again.

The magistrates told Freeston that "any discharge from a farm is a serious matter"

Despite officers informing Freeston of the serious pollution, he refused to engage with officers on site to look at the issue or take any action to remediate it. 

During a third visit in January 2021, inspectors found that Freeston had finally taken action and traced the source of the pollution to a yard drain, which was allowing slurry to discharge directly into the watercourse.

The following week work was done to protect the clean water drain and prevent further pollution. 

'Very poor attitude'

The magistrates told Freeston that "any discharge from a farm is a serious matter". 

Senior environment officer Jo Masters, said: "Mr Freeston showed a very poor attitude to our concerns over slurry entering a watercourse and repeatedly failed to address the problem.

"When pollution is identified, we expect polluters to take reports seriously, to both stop, and to remediate the issue.

"We strive to work with farmers to prevent pollution through advice and guidance, but in this case, he chose not to engage with officers which prolonged the effects of the pollution and resulted in enforcement action being taken by the Environment Agency."

Follow BBC West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: [e-mail]