A property company has been fined for polluting a stream in County Durham.
Gladman Developments was ordered to pay £7,500 at North Durham Magistrates' Court after pleasing guilty to one offence of polluting Rowletch Burn at Birtley, near Chester-le-Street.
The pollution came from the company's site at the Drum Industrial Estate and was first reported to Northumbrian Water in 2008.
According to the Environment Agency, the firm had been pumping heavily contaminated water, which included some solid matter, into a drain.
"Suspended solids can damage a watercourse and harm plant and invertebrate habitats, by reducing light penetration, increasing water temperature and leading to loss of spawning habitat," the organisation noted.
The company had committed no previous environmental offences.
In related news, the Environment Agency is currently investigating evidence of pollution in a beck in Rossendale.
Marine life at Whitewell Brook has been devastated by contaminants in the water, although the source is not yet known.
Written by Claire Manning
