A Devon farmer has been ordered to pay more than £4,000 after an investigation into two separate slurry pollution incidents from his farm near Bideford which caused the death of hundreds of fish.

Michael Wade of Higher Melbury Farm, South Yeo, Yeo Vale, Bideford, Devon, pleaded guilty at Barnstaple Magistrates Court to two counts of illegal water discharge activity on 9 March 2026.

It followed a prosecution brought by the Environment Agency.

Wade was fined £340, a victim surcharge of £136 and costs of £4,302.

The financial circumstances of the offenders determine court fines.

The court heard that this case involved the investigation of two slurry pollution incidents at Higher Melbury Farm, in January 2023 and August 2024.

In the 2023 incident, slurry discharged from the farm via a ditch into a tributary of the Dipple Brook.

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