A BREWERY has been ordered to pay fines and costs of nearly £5,000 for overloading a market town's waste treatment system.

T&R Theakston Ltd, which has brewed beers for nearly two centuries and has operated from a site at Red Lane, Wellgarth, Masham, North Yorkshire, for 133 years pleaded guilty today to two charges of discharging trade effluent in excess of a consent granted by Yorkshire Water.

The water company's prosecutor Shona Flood told Harrogate magistrates that checks had shown the brewery exceeded agreed levels by about 25 per cent on May 3 and by as much as 75 per cent on October 18.

Miss Flood said Masham's waste water treatment works had been rebuilt in 2000 and though the area had a population of only about 3,000 people it had to cope with the discharge from three major businesses, including Theakston's.

The works relied on bacteria to break down effluent and there was a danger of them being killed if approved levels were exceeded. Having to use tankers to empty sludge which was not dispersed was not an efficient operation.

Although the brewery had no previous convictions, Yorkshire Water had issued a number of formal cautions when it seemed the undertaking had shown a lack of proper monitoring and good housekeeping.

In mitigation, James Thompson said Theakston's was embarrassed and apologetic to be facing proceedings as the company took its environmental responsibilities seriously and strove constantly to improve.

The company had not set out deliberately to breach its consent but a traditional brewing process could be unpredictable. If calculations were wrong, too much yeast or other ingredients might have to be washed away.

Mr Thompson said the brewery was working to lower the volume of discharge ''in whatever shape or form'' including stopping washing vehicles in the yard.

Presiding magistrate David Uffindall imposed fines totalling £4,000 and ordered costs of £879 as well as a £15 victims' fund surcharge.