Farmer ordered to pay out £15k for illegally discharging silage effluent

A Leicestershire farmer has been ordered to pay out over £15,000 for illegally discharging silage effluent into a brook which caused the death of around 80 fish.

Roger Hobill of Grange Farm, near Melton Mowbray, pleaded guilty to causing a discharge of silage effluent which was not authorised by an environmental permit.

At Leicester Magistrates’ Court on Monday 4 July 2022, he also admitted failing to construct an adequate silo for the storge of silage.

The court was told that officers from the Environment Agency were first alerted to the incident when Asfordby Fishing Lakes reported the discovery of dead fish.