Severn Trent has successfully prosecuted a second restaurant for blocking the sewers with fat, oil and grease – which led to a nearby watercourse being polluted. This is only the third time such a case has been brought in the UK.

SCE Catering Limited, trading as Saffron Cottage in Ford, Shrewsbury, was yesterday ordered to pay the maximum fine. This was reduced due to their guilty plea, resulting in a total fine of £9,266, including costs, at Telford Magistrates’ Court. 

Under section 111 of the Water Industry Act it is an offence to discharge anything into the sewer that may interfere with the free flow. In this case, a huge blockage, made up of fat, resulted in the sewer overflowing into a local watercourse and causing a pollution. The subsequent investigation found that Saffron Cottage restaurant was the cause of the blockage with fat used in cooking being put down the drain and into the sewer where it coagulated and caused the blockage. Severn Trent visited the premises on several occasions, and sent various letters, asking for grease traps to be installed and warning of the consequences, but the owners didn’t comply.