Thursday 23 June 2022 06:29 PM Factory behind Cathedral City Cheddar is fined £1.5million for poisoning ... trends now
A leading UK cheddar cheese supplier has been fined £1.5million for poisoning salmon and trout and leaving a Cornwall locals with the 'foul' stench of pollution.
The UK's biggest cheese-making factory at Davidstow, Cornwall polluted the local area and was fined the seven-figure amount at Truro Crown Court today.
The factory produces Cathedral City, a brand enjoyed the Queen, as well as butter brands Clover and Country Life and has a £451million turnover.
The plant admitted pollution fences over a five-year period between 2016 and 2021 which blighted the lives of locals.
The Canadian-owned operation admitted 21 pollution incidents and permit breaches which have happened at its Davidstow creamery near Camelford.
The UK's biggest cheese-making factory at Davidstow, Cornwall polluted the local area and was fined the seven-figure amount at Truro Crown Court today
The pollution incidents have led to fish kills in the River Inny in 2016 and 2018.
The river is used for breeding Atlantic salmon and is home to native wild brown trout and smaller species like bullheads and loaches.
But the impact of the incidents was spelt out in court by a local resident Phil Potter who moved to the area from Surrey with his family.
Prosecutor for the Environment Agency, Richard Banwell told the judge that since 2017 they had suffered from the 'horrendous smells and more from the factory'.
They live a quarter of a mile from the plant and said the 'eggy fish smells' meant they were unable to enjoy their garden and they had to shut windows.
But he said the 'bad stink' got worse and was even more horrendous leaving them with headaches and vision problems.
His asthma suffering son had an air purifier fitted because the smells came into the property through air vents.
He went to the plant to complain but only got an apology for the problem but no solutions.
Another resident, Andrew McKersie, who is part of a local action group complaining about the odour, said: 'The worst thing is that we typically seem to get the smell in the middle of the night.
'We're
