Anglian Water has been fined a total of £22,000 and ordered to pay full costs of £4,489 after a rising main burst twice in seven months ruining crops both times.

Sewage from the main running through Hall Farm in Shipdham ruined crops both times in August 2009 and March 2010 and polluted the River Blackwater, a tributary of the River Yare, Swaffham Magistrates’ Court heard.

Miss Claire Bentley, prosecuting for the Environment Agency told the court that there had been three previous incidents of the main bursting at the site leading to surrounding land being saturated with sewage.  In the third incident the River Blackwater was also polluted.

After the third historic incident in 2007 Anglian Water had been formally warned by the Agency as the pollution had been acute and serious, Miss Bentley said.

The company then discussed replacing the main, which had been installed by the local authority in 1967, but wrote to the landowner in April 2009 saying the proposal had not been selected for funding. Four months later the main burst again.

Miss Bentley told the court that the farmer’s crops of elephant grass, grown for use as bio-fuel, had been lost and the discharge into the River Blackwater was grossly polluting. The farmer had also been advised not to carry out his hobby of shooting as consultants advised him not to take home game from his land for human consumption.

In both incidents Anglian Water refused to attend an interview under caution but did provide an account of the first incident, the court was told. In it they stated that they had initially been unable to carry out repairs to the pipe and clean up as they had been refused access to the site by the landowner until midday two days later.

After the second incident an Environment Agency officer reported hearing the landowner giving directions to Anglian Water to access the site. When the officer contacted the company later to find out why they hadn’t arrived he was told the landowner was obstructing access.

In mitigation, Ms Arabella Prothero for Anglian Water said the company was now going to replace the rising main and work was scheduled for March 2011 at a cost of £137,000 to the company. She said the company apologised for the incidents.