A WATER company has been hit with a half-million-pound fine after a “swimming pool” of sewage was discharged into an Essex river, killing a protected species.

Anglian Water has been ordered to pay more than £563,000 after more than 3.9 million litres of sewage found its way into the Doddinghurst Brook, in Brentwood.

The harmful and contaminated waste was discharged into the river – which went unchecked for two and a half days - after the failure of a treatment plant.

As a result, the huge leak damaged the watercourse’s ecosystem, causing the death of invertebrate and fish life, including several Bullheads, across three kilometres.

An investigation led by the Environment Agency found failures in planning, managing, and monitoring at the Doddinghurst Water Recycling Centre.

The recycling centre, eight miles south of Chelmsford, is responsible for treating sewage from around 6,600 local people.

It discharges treated sewage into the upper Wid, also known as Doddinghurst Brook.

After a hearing at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court, Anglian Water, which serves the East of England, was told to pay a fine of £536,000 and costs of £27,439.21.

District judge Sam Goozee, who described Anglian Water’s record as “lamentable”, also ordered the company to pay a victim surcharge of £170.

Sir James Bevan, chief executive of the Environment Agency, said: “We welcome this sentence - serious pollution is a serious crime.

“The Environment Agency will pursue any water company that fails to uphold the law or protect nature and will continue to press for the strongest possible penalties for those which do not.”

During the hearing the court heard how a fault in an aeration process at the Wyatts Green site in 2018 meant sewage discharged into the tributary of the River Wid.

This was compounded by the lack of an early alarm system which would usually alert staff of any issues.

This could have been avoided, the court heard, if £205 software had been fitted to the system when a fault occurred on the same part of the process earlier in the year.

Gavin Senior, environment officer at the Environment Agency, added: “The fine handed to Anglian Water shows polluters are made to pay for damaging the environment.

“The invertebrate and fish population in this area, including a protected species, suffered significantly because of this sewage pollution and it took time for the local ecosystem to recover.

“The public demand tough action when it comes to water quality and we are delivering. Anyone caught breaching environmental laws faces enforcement action, up to and including prosecution.

“We will always ensure the courts have all the information they need to impose appropriate sentences.”

This incident happened between late September and early October 2018. A fault in the aeration process on 28 September led to sewage discharging into the river.

The malfunction was not spotted until 1 October 2018 when an operative from Anglian Water, who was visiting the site, saw the aerators were not working.

As a result, around four kilometres of the River Wid experienced high levels of ammonia for six days after the failure.