A FURIOUS MP today called for a top-level Parliamentary inquiry into why North West Water dropped pollution charges against Nipa Laboratories.

Burnley's Peter Pike, who is supported by Hyndburn MP Greg Pope, has tabled a House of Commons early day motion demanding that the privatised water firm must reveal why the charges against Nipa were withdrawn at Blackburn Magistrates Court last Friday.

He is also demanding an explanation into allegations that an agreement was made between the two companies' lawyers before the court hearing which allegedly involved a six-figure "costs" payment by Nipa to North West Water.

The motion also demands an answer to claims that the agreement included a clause banning the details of the payment being made public.

North West Water offered no evidence against Nipa at Friday's hearing on the pollution charges relating to the River Calder, dating from 1995.

During the hearing, North West Water successfully applied for costs, which it said marked the fact it was not wrong to bring the prosecution.

Nipa had denied that it had killed fish in the river.

After the case, when asked why the charges were dropped, a spokeswoman for North West Water said the company could not comment.

She also said she could not comment on the issue of costs.

She said: "What was said in court is all that we can say. We cannot comment further."

Today, when asked again why the charges were dropped, a North West Water spokesman said: "I have spoken to our legal team and we are not prepared to comment further. "The position was explained quite clearly in court and there is nothing further to add."

Armas Best, site director at Nipa, said today: "At this stage we do not wish to add anything to what was said in Blackburn Magistrates Court last Friday."

Mr Pike said: "If the two companies entered into secret deals it is obviously a very serious matter.

"North West Water should not be doing deals.

"If the prosecution at Blackburn Magistrates had gone ahead, it may have affected the sentence given at Burnley Crown Court two days later.

"This is one of the reasons why when I was on a Commons Committee looking at river and estuary pollution.

"We recommended that certain enforcement powers should be taken off the privatised water companies.

"I had hoped that what we had put in place would be adequate to deal with these situations. It appears that it is not."

Hyndburn MP Greg Pope blasted the "shocking behaviour" of both Nipa and North West Water and vowed to take up the matter with Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, who is responsible for transport, environment and the regions.

He said: "It is a coincidence that the House of Commons is currently considering the Utility Bill which will regulate the activities of privatised utilities.

"This is an example of why they need to be regulated. They appear to think they are a law unto themselves.

"This deal smacks of collusion between North West Water and Nipa. "North West Water is letting down not merely the environment but their customers."

The early day motion says:

"This House deplores the refusal of North West Water, a privatised water utility company, acting on behalf of the public as the prosecuting authority, to reveal why it dropped pollution charges relating to a pollution incident in the River Calder in 1995 by the chemical company Nipa Laboratories at their Oswaldtwistle site when the case came before Blackburn Magistrates Court on Friday January 28.

"Demands an explanation, as a matter of urgency, of allegations made that an agreement was made between the two companies' lawyers before the arranged court hearing which involved a six-figure payment by Nipa to North West Water as "costs" and on the understanding that the details of the settlement would not be made public.

"Notes that the same company on Monday January 31 appeared in Burnley Crown Court for a serious air pollution incident and was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £54,000 costs;

"And asks the Environment Agency to carry out a full investigation into the company's actions."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.