Fish die-off in Richmond rivers attributed to vandals

Police have launched an investigation into what caused a pollution leak that killed thousands North Yorkshire fish last week.

The farm at the centre of the slurry leak said that vandals are responsible - and last night Durham Police confirmed an inquiry has been started.

Thousands of fish died after digestate material from AWSM Farming, in Hutton Magna, drained into a nearby river, causing watercourses across Richmondshire to “run black for hours on end”.

The Environment Agency confirmed that they were “assessing and mitigating” the impacts of this incident, though local businesses dependent on the impacted waterways have said that it is a “huge financial hit” and “takes the area hundreds of steps back ecologically”.

Previously, the farm has been subject to large fines for environmental hazards that included pollutants leaking from storage containers, and mistakenly using a carcinogenic as a fertilizer.

In 2017, ASWM Recycling was hit with hefty fines for environmental hazards that killed fish and other aquatic animals