A Northumberland mining company has been fined after they let polluted water run into a nearby burn, making it too "dirty" for anglers to fish.
The local community at Halton Lea Gate, near Haltwhistle, fought for more than a decade to prevent land at Halton Lea Farm becoming an opencast mine. However, HM Project Developments Ltd eventually had their application approved in 2012 for the site to become Halton Lea Surface Mine.
The company, which has since gone into administration, began operations at the site but, in October 2018, it was noted that water in nearby Hartley Burn was discoloured and had been polluted. A court heard that the pollution had come from dirty water, which had been discharged from the mine and into the burn, and had affected a 10km - 12km stretch of the water course.
