A livestock firm has been fined �5,000 for allowing up to 100,000 gallons of pig slurry to contaminate a Scottish stream.

The Carden Livestock Company of Pitcaple in Aberdeenshire was fined at Aberdeen Sheriff Court for causing the accidental spill.

The leak from a storage tank into Gadie Burn near Oyne, Aberdeenshire, happened on 29 November last year.

The company pleaded guilty to a charge under the Control of Pollution Act following an investigation by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa).

Up to 5,000 fish may have been asphyxiated

The spillage at the Mill of Carden farm resulted in the closure of the main A96 Aberdeen to Huntly road for several hours while a clean-up operation was mounted.

Sepa found the waste had a "serious effect" on the local river system, along a three-mile stretch of the Gadie Burn and River Urie below the farm.

The environment watchdog estimates between 3,000 and 5,000 fish, mainly young trout and salmon, may have been asphyxiated as a result of the incident.

Sepa said the incident occurred due to a failure of valves in the farm's two million litre slurry store.

Severe corrosion in the main slurry valve caused effluent to pour out of the tank which could not be retained by the safety valve, as it was also in a very poor condition.

'Devastating accident'

Dr Nicholas Bedding of Sepa said: "This was a very serious incident caused by poor maintenance of a slurry store.

"It had devastating consequences for the river, but it was preventable.

"This slurry store was not particularly old, and it is essential that farmers have their slurry valves regularly examined and maintained."

Sepa also confirmed it was the second conviction for the company.

It was fined �500 in 2001 for causing up to 5,000 litres of pig slurry to contaminate the Gadie Burn in July 2000, in an unrelated accident which caused the deaths of up to 200 fish.