A HAULAGE firm has been fined almost £30,000 after its trucks spilled offal along a number of streets in Bradford and Keighley.

Haulage (Holdings) Organisation Ltd, the transport division of Halifax-based animal by-product collector the Leo Group, admitted three offences in court on Tuesday, February 1.

The firm, based in Swalesmoor Road, Halifax, pleaded guilty to three count of failing to comply with an animal by-product requirement when appearing at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates’ Court.

Prosecuted by Bradford Council, the first offence related to August 6, 2019, when the firm failed to transport animal by-products in a leak-proof container while driving along Halifax Road, Keighley.

At the time, one angry resident described the smell as "vile” and another labelled the spillage "disgusting".

The second offence occurred on February 3, 2020, when in Tong Street and Hammerton Street, the firm allowed animal by-product waste being transported in a vehicle escape from its control into the environment.

The third spillage was on March 12, 2020, when in Haworth Road and Station Road in Cullingworth, the firm failed to transport offal in a leak-proof container.

For the 2019 offence, the firm was fined £10,000. It was also fined £10,000 for the February 2020 offence, and a further £2,500 for the March 2020 offence.

It was also told to pay costs of £6,433, and a victim surcharge of £181, for a total amount of £29,114.

Haulage (Holdings) collects from and delivers to suppliers for Leo Group and customers across the country.

Leo Group collects and processes offal – mainly from abattoirs – and processes it to create a range of products, including oil for bio-diesel, pet food and more.

It has a rendering plant in Bradford, which handles “Category 1” animal by-products. There is an Omega Proteins site – another subsidiary of the Leo Group – based in Denholme.

It’s not the first time the firm has been called before court for spilling offal on Bradford’s roads.

In 2019, it was fined more than £17,500 for three offences committed in a four month period when appearing at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates Court.

All the offences occurred in Halifax Road Keighley in April and August 2018, with poultry offal, a "foul smelling pink liquid" and further spillages reported.

Then Haulage Holdings was fined a total of £17,559, meaning in three and a half years it has been fined more than £46,000 for spillages in Bradford.