Northumbrian Water has been fined £240,000 after a damaged manhole led to sewage leaking into a watercourse in County Durham.
At Newcastle Crown Court, the water company pleaded guilty to two charges of causing the discharge of sewage into a stream on March 13 and 14 in 2017.
The court heard that a brick appeared to have blocked a combined sewer causing raw sewage to pour out of manhole chambers and flow into Coundon Burn at Auckland Park, Bishop Auckland.