SOUTH West Water has been fined £10,000 after a pollution incident which saw sewage flow into Brixham harbour, closing mussel beds and cancelling children's water sports.

It was at the peak of the summer season last year that a vital pump failed at the Oxen Cove pumping station, South Devon magistrates at Totnes heard yesterday.

The two back-up machines had been sent away for repair and there were long delays before the work could be completed, the court was told.

South West Water pleaded guilty to allowing the effluent to be discharged, and was fined £10,000 with £1,915 costs.

Prosecuting for the Environment Agency, Simon Rundle said that on July 6 last year the main pump in the 'wet tank' stopped working. A SWW emergency plan immediately sprang into action, with the agreement of the agency, and tankers were sent to the site to take away the sewage.

All seemed well and spare parts were on the way, but a check later in the day revealed that sewage was overspilling into the harbour. A temporary pump was installed that night.

Mr Rundle said samples taken from three points in the harbour showed 'a not insubstantial pollution incident'. But there was no impact on nearby beaches.

As a precaution, Torbay Council advised the closure of the mussel beds, and the owner of an activity centre cancelled a water sports programme for 42 schoolchildren and seven teachers, again as a precaution.

Mr Rundle explained that the water company had consent to discharge into the sea under certain emergency conditions, but maintained this incident was not covered by any of the categories.

Oxen Cove was supposed to have main pumps in both the 'wet and dry' chambers and at least two stand-by pump at all times.

Mr Rundle added that the company had received a warning in June 2006 for a similar incident when there were no stand-by pumps either.

Barrister Tom Bradnock, for SWW, said Oxen Cove pumped Brixham's sewage to a treatment works and the main pump failed because it was clogged with debris.

The original impellers, fitted when the works opened in 2002, were not adequate to cope with the loads and upgrades were on order.

"This is a bespoke pumping system specifically designed for Oxen Cove, and there were delays in repairs because the specialist company had problems in obtaining spares quickly enough," said Mr Bradnock.

"Any spare pumps were being used for the severe flooding in the Gloucestershire area at the time. The lack of spare pumps was certainly not due to any cost or corner cutting by the company.

"Most of the pollution was taken out to sea and there was no suggestion of any fish being harmed."

Mr Bradnock added: "It is impossible to determine exactly how much pollution the discharge caused in the harbour because other pollutants also flow in the harbour from other sources, including the fish market, the urban drainage from the whole of Brixham and from boats."

Chairman of the bench, Jeff Beer, said the company had reacted responsibly and swiftly to the emergency but had not dealt with the problems over the delays in repairing the pumps strongly enough.

"They did not have enough pumps and did not heed a previous warning," he commented.

A SWW spokesman said after the case: "We have since purchased a new replacement pump to be stored on site and also improved the monitoring of the pumping station."