Farmer jailed for dredging stretch of river ‘to stop homes flooding’

A farmer who dredged a stretch of Herefordshire river in an effort to save nearby homes from flooding has been jailed for 12 months.

John Price spent more than 200 hours, working at weekends and evenings, to remove gravel and silt from a stretch of the River Lugg in late 2020.

The 68-year-old had argued that the work was necessary to prevent further flooding of properties in the village of Kingsland, which had been hit by Storm Dennis.

But he faced seven charges, brought by the Environment Agency and Natural England, including those relating to discharging silt into the river and the destruction of 71 trees.

He was sentenced to 12 months in prison at Kidderminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday. He will also have to pay £600,000 in costs, take action to help repair the river, and was disqualified from his role as director of his company for three years.

Price had previously pleaded guilty to all seven offences, which took place in 2020 and in 2021, when he conducted follow-up work on the site.

In 2020, he told The Telegraph he had the support of the village and parish council to carry out the work, and said locals had pleaded with the Environment Agency to clear the blocked river to help prevent flooding.

“I’m a Herefordshire farmer and have lived at Day Farm and was born here at home. I have never moved and have watched this river all my life, and no one knows this river better than myself,” he said at the time.

“The flooding has been getting substantially worse over the last 10 years, and will continue to get worse if a certain amount of work is not done like I have been allowed to do by the Environment Agency.”

Villagers told The Telegraph they supported Price’s actions, arguing that he had “acted in the best interests of the local community”. Homes in the area were flooded during Storm Dennis in early 2020, but were spared when Storm Christoph hit in January 2021.

The Environment Agency has come under increasing criticism in recent years for its approach to flood prevention – in particular a move away from dredging, which many farmers argue is an important tool.

The River Lugg is home to six protected and endangered species including the common otter and white clawed crayfish, and the Environment Agency said Price had destroyed habitats and wildlife on a stretch of “one of the country’s most unspoiled rivers”.

Price, a cattle and potato farmer, used heavy machinery including bulldozers and excavators to dredge and reprofile a 1.5km stretch of the river.

Prosecutor Bernard Thorogood told the court that Price, who owns land on either side of the River Lugg, knew the area was protected and that he needed permission to carry out work.

Price carried out further works in 2021 which he conceded were for aesthetic reasons, his lawyer said.

Ecologists said it would take at least 25 years for replacement trees to reach “maturity” and start to recover from the farmer’s action. The Environment Agency said the destruction “ did not have any flood prevention benefit”.

“The destruction of riverbanks is not appropriate flood management,” said the agency’s Martin Quine. “We urge landowners never to take extreme measures such as this and instead to always work closely with the Environment Agency around river management to agree the best solutions for both landowners and the environment.”

Price was charged with failing to take reasonable precautions to prevent agricultural pollution, carrying out operations specified in the notice of the River Lugg Site of Special Scientific Interest without reasonable excuse, and failing to comply with a stop notice.

Sentencing him, Judge Ian Strongman said his actions were “not short of ecological vandalism” and a custodial sentence would act as a deterrent to others.

He said Price’s diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder was “only a minor mitigating factor” because he had run a successful business for many years and was “able to make decisions”.

Speaking after the verdict, Emma Johnson, the area manager for Natural England said: “The destruction of this section of the River Lugg was devastating for the abundance and range of species that thrived in this river.

“The River Lugg is one of the most iconic rivers in the UK, and to see this wanton destruction take place was devastating. This is why we have used our powers as regulators to see that justice was done and to act as a stark warning to others that we will take the strongest action against those who do not respect the laws that protect the environment and wildlife we all cherish.

“We want to ensure that Mr Price now takes the necessary actions which we hope, in time will restore this much-loved stretch of river to its former condition.”