Driver fined for pollution
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A DRIVER HAS BEEN ordered to pay £750 compensation after pleading guilty to draining petrol from his van when he filled it with the wrong fuel and polluting a nearby stream.
Taunton magistrates heard how Dennis Sturt pulled into the Taunton Deane motorway service area on 5 August 2003 and filled his Bedford van with unleaded petrol instead of diesel.
Realising his mistake he moved his vehicle to the rear of the forecourt and emptied 35 litres of fuel from his tank, allowing it to drain into a ditch and how into a nearby Stream. If the petrol had ignited it could have caused a fire beside the M5, setting alight more than a quarter of a mile of the verge.
A Roadchef supervisor spotted the incident and reported it to the Environment Agency (EA). Andrew King for the EA told the court: "The defendant committed a deliberate act with little regard for the environment or health of members of the public or Roadchef staff "He ignored advice given to him by staff and drained his vehicle's fuel tank regardless of the consequences," King added.
The court heard Sturt had shown no remorse for his actions and was unco-operative with the EA.