A RENDERING plant has been hit with a legal bill of �150,000 after neighbours complained of a vile stench.
West Silvertown-based John Knight Ltd admitted breaches of environmental regulations at Inner London Crown Court.
Newham Council brought the prosecution following scores of complaints from nearby residents last summer.
One described “a repugnant, distasteful, rancid odour that smells exactly like meat that has gone off”.
Another said: “The smell was so unpleasant I didn’t want to breathe.”
Bosses from the firm, a fixture in Silvertown for more than 100 years, pleaded guilty to six counts of failing to properly treat odours under the Environmental Permitting Regulations. They were fined �75,000 and ordered to pay the same amount in costs.
It is the second time the �company has been prosecuted under environmental regulations. It was fined �10,000 and ordered to pay the same amount in costs in 2009.
Magistrates were told a pile of rotting meat had been left outside when it should have been stored in properly controlled conditions.
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