A DEMOLITION firm that spilled red diesel into a Hampshire stream has been fined more than £6,500.

A kilometre-long stretch of Weston Common Stream in Sholing, Southampton, was contaminated with fuel, despite attempts by Environment Agency officers to contain the damage.

The agency was called in after several concerned residents reported the stream had turned orange and had a strong chemical smell, in March last year.

An officer who attended the scene traced the pollution to nearby site on Gavin Street, run by Southern Demolition Company.

An empty oil storage tank had been left standing on the ground without any form of containment, and diesel had leaked out and across the ground, entering a surface water chamber leading to the stream.

The firm had made no attempt to contain the leaking fuel, and was unable to calculate how much had entered the ecosystem.

At New Forest Magistrates’ Court, Southern Demolition Company said staff were unaware the tank had been brought to the site by an external contractor, and it had been attacked by vandals.

JPs fined the firm £5,000 and ordered it to pay £1,559 costs, after it admitted two offences relating to the leak.

Speaking after the case, Bill Scott from the Environment Agency said the incident had caused “serious environmental damage”.