A WATER company has been fined £6,000 for polluting the North Sea.

Representatives from Northumbrian Water appeared at Guisborough Magistrates' Court on Tuesday after pleading guilty to two incidents of pollution of the North Sea at Marske.

The company was also ordered to pay costs of £1,069.17 to the Environment Agency, which brought the case.

Trevor Cooper, prosecuting, told the court that on April 18 this year an Environment Agency officer attended Northumbrian Water's sewage works at Green Lane, Marske, for a routine sample of the water on the coast.

He noticed the effluent flow appeared to be darker than usual and took a formal sample to be analysed.

The sample was found to contain suspended solids of 584 milligrammes per litre, which was more than double the permitted limit of 250mg.

The water company has a consent to discharge treated sewage effluent from its plant into the North Sea, but this is subject to specific conditions.

One of the conditions is that it should not contain more than 250mg per litre of suspended solids.

On June 23 a further sample was taken which showed 384mg per litre.

In interview, it was accepted that Northumbrian Water was in breach of its consent to discharge. The company accepted the breaches but said it had technical difficulties that affected the way equipment could sense the water level.

Mr Cooper said that the environmental impact of the pollution was not known as the effluent discharged via a sea outfall and there was no report of fish deaths or pollution. However, suspended solids could potentially have a significant impact as high solids could reduce the quality of bathing water.

The court also heard that a previous warning letter had been issued by the Environment Agency to Northumbrian Water on November 22, 2004, for exceeding the suspended solids limit at the treatment works, and a formal caution was issued on July 6 this year for breaching water quality on October 13, 2005.

In mitigation, it was stated that the discharge was for a short duration and there had been no further incidents.

A spokeswoman for Northumbrian Water said: "It was not toxic discharge. It has been through UV treatment so all the bacteria would have been killed. So, basically, it was sludge which is the same material that can be legitimately spread on land as it is very biodegradable. There is no impact on the sea.

The spokeswoman added the company had so far spent £13m improving the sewerage system in the area.