A KEROSENE leak from a storage tank at a luxury hotel in East Lancashire caused environmental devastation to a 150-metre stretch of a waterway.

Brown trout were killed and a duck left covered in oil after the spillage from equipment at the Higher Trapp Hotel, in Trapp Lane, Simonstone, Reedley magistrates heard.

An independent ecological survey showed that a host of smaller invertebrates were also seriously affected along Simonstone Brook.

But hotel bosses have insisted vandals were probably responsible for damaging the storage tank, which led to a major clean-up in April.

Stefan Sikorski, managing director of Lakeside Collections, which owns the Higher Trapp, admitted breaching two enviromental regulations covering the storage of oil.

Magistrates fined the hotel chain, based in Walshaw Road, Bury, £5,000 with £1,250 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

Esme Saynor, prosecuting on behalf of the Environment Agency, said residents first alerted her authority on April 15 after a strong smell of oil was detected at several sites in Simonstone.

Investigations along the brook showed several brown trout had perished and the RSPCA was called to deal with a duck covered in oil.

An estimated 2,400 litres of kerosene, used to heat a hotel annexe, was lost.

Denise Dowen, for Lakeside, said it was suspected that vandals had caused the leak as there had been several reports of thefts in the area at that time, adding: “The company deeply regrets that an incident occurred which resulted in damage to the environment, particularly as the hotel management prides itself on guests being able to enjoy the outstanding natural beauty of the area.”

Hotel management immediately drafted in environmental consultants, at their own expense, to deal with the aftermath of the spillage, the court heard.