Thames Water fined £125,000 for bleach spill

Thames Water was fined £125,000 on 26 January for a bleach spill that killed thousands of fish along the river Wandle in south-west London (ENDS Report 393, p 17).

ENDS understands the fine is the largest ever levelled against a water company for a single water pollution offence and the second highest for any environmental offence.

In sentencing the firm at Croydon crown court, Ms Recorder Wickham described the incident, which occurred at Thames’ Beddington Sewage works in September 2007, as "a tragedy". She set costs at £21,335.