Slurry caused flooding
Slurry caused flooding
FARMERS have agreed to pay £27,500 to a villager who sued for damages after claiming that pig slurry flooded into his home. The offer was accepted just before a hearing at Cambridge County Court, expected to last five days, was about to begin.
Paul Rayson of Brockley Corner, Culford, Suffolk, took legal action against pig farmer Rob Simonds, his company Pig Management Services and farm owners CN Flack & Co Ltd. His home was allegedly flooded with muck on several occasions after heavy rain in 1998.
Pigs were allegedly being kept on adjoining fields at the time. Nigel Baldock, for the defendants, told the court that the agreement was reached without any admission of liability. It had been reached on the basis of commercial sense and to try to resolve matters between neighbours, he said.
The agreement also includes undertakings over the management of local land which might be used for outdoor pigs in the future.
The outcome of the case is now being studied by residents at Blythburgh, Suffolk, who allege their property was contaminated after torrential rain last year. *