A Southall-based ethnic food products company has been ordered to pay nearly £50,000 for illegally discharging fat, oil and grease into the sewerage system. Noon Products Ltd, which supplies chilled and frozen ready meals to major supermarkets, pleaded guilty at Uxbridge Magistrates Court on 14 January 2008 to 13 charges of discharging illegal amounts of trade effluent into the public sewer between October 2006 and August 2007.

The company was fined £39,000 and ordered to pay full costs of £9,598.58. Magistrates stated that the high level of fine reflected persistent breaches of effluent discharge consents and that Noon had acted recklessly. Thames Water brought the original prosecution after tests showed Noon was making illegal discharges - including cooking fat, oil and grease - from its premises in Windmill Industrial Estate in Southall. In some cases, the company was three times over the legal limit for effluent discharges

Thames Water Asset Performance and Control manager Sarah McMath welcomed the ruling and said the company would not hesitate to take action against other offending companies. "Prosecutions of this sort are rare and only used as a last resort when a trader fails to respond to correspondence, meetings and repeated warnings.

"We are pleased that the Magistrates have recognised the seriousness of these offences. We would always prefer that companies comply with the law, rather than us having to take legal action, and we are keen to work with firms to help them meet their legal requirements.

"Fat, oil and grease causes a huge problem for us, as it hardens and blocks the sewers, causing flooding to homes and properties. Last year, we cleared 70,000 sewer blockages, of which we estimate 60 per cent were caused by fat, oil and grease being poured down drains".