A Co Down firm pleaded guilty to causing water pollution and was fined £500 plus £22 court costs at Newtownards Magistrates’ Court.

Willowbrook Foods Limited, Whiterock Road, Killinchy, Co Down, was fined for making a polluting discharge to a waterway.

On 14 December 2011, a Water Quality Inspector, acting on behalf of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency observed a plume of sewage fungus extending into Strangford Lough from a storm water discharge point opposite to the end of Ganaway Drive. The source of the polluting discharge was traced to the premises of Willowbrook Foods Limited where a holding tank was observed to be overflowing at several points. Strangford Lough is a unique habitat and an Area of Special Scientific Interest.

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A sample taken at the time of the incident confirmed that the discharge contained poisonous, noxious or polluting matter which was potentially harmful to fish life in the receiving waterway.

(CD)