A FARMER has been ordered to pay more than £6,500 after ignoring the opportunity to avoid a criminal conviction.

Mark Pearson, 64, was offered an alternative penalty when he admitted to polluting a freshwater stream near his farm in Hanford near Blandford.

He appeared at Taunton Magistrates’ Court on November 20 after he ignored the Environment Agency’s attempts at contacting him.

It was said that an agency officer was walking his dog in January 2019 and noticed slurry in a stream.

The officer traces the runoff to a field at Hanford Farm and took photos as evidence.

Pearson later admitted that slurry spreading at the farm had caused the pollution.

The court heard that there had been seven previous pollution incidents involving the farm since 2012.

It was also said that the farm was required to have five months of slurry storage facilities, but there was only two months of storage.

Pearson agreed to an Enforcement Undertaking, which was offered as an alternative to formal court proceedings.

He paid a contribution to the National Trust of £2,000 and was ordered to secure a slurry lagoon.

However, when the Environment Agency contacted him several times to secure a date for the completion of the lagoon, Pearson ignored it.

Instead, the agency charged him with a criminal offence.

Pearson was fined £2500, ordered to pay more than £4000 in costs and a victim surcharge of £170.

Chris Westcott, team leader agriculture, from the Environment Agency said: “Enforcement Undertakings provide an opportunity for polluters to pay for environmental projects as an alternative to court proceedings.

“Though Mr Pearson was offered the opportunity to avoid a criminal conviction, he chose to ignore that leading to today’s hearing.”

Pearson’s full charge was on January 19, 2019, he caused an unpermitted water discharge activity, namely the discharge of poisonous, noxious or polluting matter from Hanford Farm, Hanford, Blandford in Dorset, into inland fresh waters contrary to Regulations 12(1)(b) and Regulation 38(1)(a) of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016.