A gastro pub co-owned by celebrity chef Marco Pierre White has been fined £30,000 for polluting a village stream with sewage almost over 60 times the legal maximum. Neighbours of the Yew Tree Inn in Highclere, Berkshire, said the foul smells were so bad they could not leave their homes.
The restaurant has previously pleaded guilty to five counts of polluting a water course between 2007 and 2009. Andrew Parton, a proprietor and shareholder in the restaurant, had also pleaded guilty to five similar charges during the same period, plus a sixth charge of breaching an improvement notice. The Environment Agency brought all charges against the two defendants after conducting tests on the stream near the restaurant.
James Pretsell, defending both the restaurant and Mr Parton, said the business had already spent nearly £80,000 in trying to fix their sewage treatment tank. But presiding magistrate Stephen Bibby said the charges related to a “serious and continuing” environmental problem and that substantial fines were appropriate.
