SEVERN Trent Water has been fined £20,000 after pleading guilty to allowing untreated sewage to enter the Ley Brook at Huntley.

Appearing before Cheltenham magistrates the company admitted breaching a condition of its environmental permit.

Magistrates also ordered Severn Trent to pay £3,322.75 in costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

Severn Trent reported a pollution incident at Huntley sewage treatment works to the Environment Agency on September 6 last year.

Samples taken from the brook smelled of sewage and had high levels of ammonia.

A blockage at the works had been allowing untreated sewage to enter the brook for almost two weeks and had gone undetected by Severn Trent.

A representative of Severn Trent apologised for the offence and said they acted promptly once they were ware of the problem.