The Anglers’ Conservation Association (ACA) has secured £8,500 in damages following the discharge of gallons of water from a burst water main into Brick Farm Lake, near Battle in East Sussex in April 2005.

The chlorinated mains water carried sediment and pollutants from the road surface into the feeder stream for Brick Farm lakes causing a significant fish-kill.  The owners of the lakes immediately contacted the ACA, of which they are longstanding members.

Acting through its loss adjusters, South East Water denied liability. The ACA was left with no choice but to issue an application at the County Court to force the utility to release relevant documents concerning the burst.  South East Water then agreed to settle the claim.

“This is a significant success for the ACA,” commented Justin Neal, assistant solicitor at the ACA.  He continued: “where a large company thinks it can simply deny liability and ignore letters from the ACA without meeting its disclosure obligations, we will have no hesitation in issuing an application at court.  We hope that South East Water will begin to invest more in improving the mains system, preventing similar events in the future and, perhaps just as importantly, conserving precious drinking water.”

Mark Lloyd, Executive Director of the ACA noted: “this case demonstrates once again why it is so important for anyone who owns or rents fishing to be a member of the ACA.  We have unique legal expertise to enable us to take on even the largest companies on behalf of anglers, fishery owners and fishing clubs.  Anyone wishing to benefit from this legal service should contact the ACA on 01568 620447 or go to our web site at www.a-c-a.org for more information.”