Yorkshire water pays out record amount after polluting stream
The incident in Harrogate killed almost 1500 fish
Yorkshire Water have offered to pay a record £1 million pound to two charities - after illegally polluting a North Yorkshire stream.
It happened at Hookstone Beck in Harrogate.
It paid £500,000 to Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and £500,000 to Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust.
It came after the Environment Agency launched an investigation when it received a report of pollution in Hookstone Beck in August 2016.
The investigation found that almost 1,500 fish had been killed and water quality was affected for more than a mile and a half (2.5km) downstream.
Meanwhile, a series of further blockages and discharges took place in the following months.
Water minister Robbie Moore said: "This record penalty paid by Yorkshire Water demonstrates that those who damage our natural environment will be held to account.
"Our Plan for Water is all about delivering more investment, stronger regulation and tougher enforcement right across the water sector - and this penalty for Yorkshire Water demonstrates that we will take robust action when required.
"Our Plan includes scrapping the cap on civil penalties by introducing unlimited fines and significantly broadening their scope to target a much wider range of offences - from breaches of storm overflow permits to the reckless disposal of hazardous waste."
Yorkshire Wildlife Trust will use the payment in North Yorkshire for new and improved homes for wildlife, mainly on its wetland reserves, including Ripon City Wetlands and the River Tutt at Staveley Nature Reserve.
Meanwhile, Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust will develop a programme of improvements along the River Nidd.
"We understand incidents of this kind are distressing"
A Yorkshire Water spokesman said: "This incident was initially caused by a plank of wood that shouldn't have been in the sewer network and took place seven years ago.
"We acted quickly to stop the pollution but understand incidents of this kind are distressing and, when things go wrong, we understand we have a responsibility to make it right and to prevent these things from happening at all.
"Unfortunately, it has taken seven years to reach an agreement with the Environment Agency to donate funds to local wildlife charities that will directly benefit Yorkshire, but we are pleased to have finally provided funds to the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust.
"We're committed to protecting the environment and our procedures and processes have evolved significantly since 2016, contributing to a halving of pollution incidents in the last five years.
"Following this incident in 2016, we spent almost £2 million to improve the sewer network in the area to prevent repeat issues."