Environment Agency fined for polluting river

River watchdog the Environment Agency has been fined £7,500 for polluting the River Exe in Somerset.

In September 2005, a subcontractor was refurbishing a river monitoring station and inadvertently leaked toxic waste into the main tributary, killing at least 300 fish.

Because the Environment Agency cannot prosecute itself, a local landowner, Ian Cook, was given government permission to bring a private prosecution.