A pig farm has been fined £25,000 for failing to control polluting smells after an Environment Agency enforcement notice was ignored. Belmont Farms Ltd,, based in East Keal, Lincolnshire was fined £5,000 for failing to control smells and not complying with the enforcement notice to remove slurry from under pig sheds and ordered to pay full costs of £17,500.

The farming company denied the charges, but a guilty verdit was passed down at Skegness Magistrates’ Court yesterday. Commenting on the implications of the trial, Mr Richard Banwell, prosecuting for the Environment Agency, said industrial activities such as intensive farming needed a permit which would include conditions to protect the environment and local communities. He said the community had been affected when Belmont Farms ignored the EA’s notice.

The EA said keeping slurry in pits under the pig sheds for too long at the farm had caused the smells and the company had failed to monitor or properly investigate this despite verbal and written advice from Environment Agency officers. The farm, which rears pigs from 50kg to slaughter weight, has a permit for the rearing of up to 6,500 pigs, though this is dependent on controlling emissions and odours.

The Agency said it had received 920 official complaints about odours from the farm. After the hearing Environment Agency officer Emma Benfield said: “The industry should always look to adopt the best available techniques and consider other approaches beyond traditional measures when problems occur."