CHIPPENHAM NEWS: A FARM company has been fined £12,000 after a slurry spill left thousands of fish floating dead on Bowood Lake.

Kingsplay Farming Company, of Heddington, near Calne, was taken to court by the Environment Agency on Tuesday after slurry from a cattle shed contaminated the water.

The slurry spill, from Willow Brook Farm, Stockley, near Calne, was reported to the Environment Agency by a member of the public on December 2.

The previous day work had started emptying 300,000 gallons of liquid slurry onto the farmland.

The farm has more than 500 dairy cows and the slurry from the cattle shed, milking parlour and yard is stored and then spread over 90 acres.

The land, which had been left fallow, was frozen and deeply rutted, which resulted in the slurry running into nearby lakes rather than being absorbed by the soil.

Environment Agency officers discovered Whetham Lake, immediately downstream from the farm, was badly polluted.

Further downstream, Bowood Lake was severely affected, with high ammonia levels and very low oxygen.

About 2,000 dead fish, including roach, carp, pike, perch and tench, were seen floating on the water and were eaten by flocks of birds.

A dam was placed in Willow Brook and the slurry spreading was stopped.

Aerators were needed for 11 days until oxygen levels were restored in Bowood Lake.

Kingsplay Farming Company Limited, of Home Farm, Heddington, pleaded guilty to causing poisonous, noxious, or polluting matter to enter controlled waters, at Chippenham magistrates' court on Tuesday.

The company was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay £1,187 costs.

Environment Agency spokesman Laurence Mathew said: "Farmers should check the ground and weather conditions carefully before applying slurry to the soil.

"This is particularly important when spreading on fields adjacent to water courses."

A Bowood spokesman said it was fortunate the main lake had not been affected.

She said: "It was an unfortunate accident and the very prompt action of the Environment Agency stopped it being a lot worse."

Kingsplay Farming Company did not want to comment about the case.