Marco Pierre White pub fined over pollution

A gastropub co-owned by Marco Pierre White has been fined £30,000 by magistrates for polluting a stream with sewage.

The Yew Tree Inn in Highclere, Hampshire, pleaded guilty to five counts of polluting a water course between 27 November 2007 and 15 January 2009.

Proprietor and shareholder Andrew Parton, a resident of Old School Cottages, Highclere, also pleaded guilty to five counts of similar charges in the same period and one charge of breaching an improvement notice issued on 28 November 2008.

The Yew Tree Inn has a licence to treat and release sewage into the nearby stream.

The Environment Agency brought charges against the defendants following tests of the water and the complaints of two Highclere landowners, who claimed to smell sewage from the stream.

The court heard that the business had already spent nearly £80,000 on attempts to fix the sewage treatment tank.

However, magistrate Stephen Bibby said it was a "serious and continuing" environmental concern and fined the restaurant £6,000 for each charge.

Legal costs of £7,785 a £15 victim surcharge and £200 each in compensation to the residents who complained were also picked up by the gastropub.

Parton was ordered to pay £600 for each charge, £100 for the breach, a £15 victim surcharge and £865 in legal costs, totalling £3,980.