TWO generations of a Horton farming family have been cleared of polluting the River Ribble with sheep dip chemicals by Skipton magistrates this week.

After a trial lasting almost three days, the case against Alexander Morphet, 73, and 41-year-old David Morphet, both of High Birkwith Farm, Horton-in-Ribblesdale, was dismissed.

The father and son had denied a charge of polluting a stream leading into the River Ribble with a chemical found in synthetic pyrethroid sheep dip on or before September 1 1997.

Prosecuting, Richard Bradley claimed the chemical, lethal to insect life, had been detected in the River Ribble by Environment Agency officers.

Officer Kieran Phillips had detected a problem on September 1 after receiving reports of dead crayfish in the river near Horton.

It was later ascertained the Morphets had been using Young's Robust sheep dip about three weeks earlier.

Mr Phillips subsequently carried out tests at the farm and said in times of heavy rainfall, sheep dipping chemicals could have been washed down the drains, eventually entering the stream.

However, in mitigation, John Hayes said the labelling on the two most significant samples had been queried.

He also claimed the pollution could have come from rubble used to build a ford in the river by another farmer.

In the witness box, both David and Alexander Morphet said they had never had any trouble before with the Environment Agency.

When Mr Morphet senior was asked if he accepted he was responsible for polluting the stream, he replied: "definitely not".

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