On Friday 7 September 2007, Severn Trent Water Limited pleaded guilty at Worcester Magistrates Court to three charges of allowing sewage effluent to leak into the River Teme, a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

The charges were brought by the Environment Agency under the Water Resources Act (1991). Severn Trent Water was fined £34,000 and ordered to pay costs of £7,000.

For the Environment Agency, Jonathon Salmon told the court that Tenbury Wells has a mixture of combined and totally separate sewers. The whole catchment drains to the terminal sewage pumping station at Church Street. The station has two pumps operating on a duty standby basis.

On 13 August 2005, contractors acting on behalf of Severn Trent Water Ltd attended the Church Street pumping station to investigate a problem with the standby pump. The contractors found that the pump motor had burnt out and required replacement or repair.

According to records and the maintenance log, this pump was not returned until the 13 September 2005. No replacement standby pump was provided at the pumping station during this period.

In August 2005, the Environment Agency received three reports on separate days that the pumping station at Church Street was leaking sewage effluent into the River Teme.  Environment Agency officers attended the site and took photographs of the discharge to the River Teme and witness statements from local residents.  These discharges were caused when the duty pump broke down and there was no standby pump to take over.

On 15 March 2006, a representative from Severn Trent Water was interviewed under caution at Environment Agency offices. During the interview the company admitted that the discharges of effluent into the River Teme was caused by pump failure.

Speaking after the case, Adam Shipp, an Environment Agency officer involved in the investigation said: “This case showed that poor management and a failure to put in place back up systems, such as temporary pumps or tankers, led to one of our finest salmon rivers being polluted not once but three times over a two week period. Severn Trent Water were also criticised in court for failing to co-operate fully with the Environment Agency during its investigation, a fact that was reflected in the size of the fine.”

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