SOUTHERN Water has been fined more than £13,000 after admitting accidentally pumping tonnes of raw sewage into a Hampshire river.

The leak from the Peel Common Sewage Treatment Works in Fareham polluted more than one-and-a-half miles of the River Alver, killing several fish and creatures living in the water.

Raw waste spewed into the river for more than an hour, following a power cut at the plant last July.

Investigators later found a 25 per cent concentration of raw sewage in the river.

At Fareham Magistrates Court today Southern Water was fined £10,000 for the leak and ordered to pay £3,155 costs to the agency.

Environment officer Brendon Hunter said afterwards: "The impact on the ecology of the River Alver was significant."