1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198 
Driver fined for pollution
Page 16
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
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.