BNFL was fined £40,000 and ordered to pay a further £34,000 in costs yesterday for its sixth breach of health and safety at its Sellafield plant in the past decade. The acid spill at the plant last year was in part caused by the company's failure to introduce new safety procedures promised four years ago, a court was told. Its failure only came to light after the March 1999 spillage of 1,500 gallons of pressurised nitric acid, which left two workers slightly injured and one firefighter suffering from inhalation of toxic fumes.Carlisle Crown Court was told BNFL had assured the Heath and Safety Executive it would implement new procedures by the end of 1996, after an acid spill in 1994. The company had been fined £32,500 for breaching health and safety regulations in 1996 and its record also included a further health and safety breach and three breaches of Nuclear Site Licence conditions.In last year's incident, the men were working on the commission and maintenance of the solvent treatment plant when the spillage happened. One of them could have died, were he not wearing protective clothing.

The pressurised 60 per cent concentrated nitric acid spewed out of the valve after a feeder pipe was not isolated and the men began work on it.The nuclear power company, and its wholly owned subsidiary, BNFL Engineering, each admitted one breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and each was fined £20,000, with the costs equally shared.Nigel Monckton, a BNFL spokesman, said after the hearing the company regretted the incident. He said: "BNFL has already started strengthening the safety organisation at Sellafield.". The company that unwittingly sold seed in Britain contaminated with genetically modified material said yesterday it would compensate farmers who had been advised to destroy their crops as a result. The company that unwittingly sold seed in Britain contaminated with genetically modified material said yesterday it would compensate farmers who had been advised to destroy their crops as a result. Advanta Seeds UK, which is based in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, said independent experts would determine compensation, which is expected to be millions of pounds. Friends of the Earth, which has led an anti-GM campaign, welcomed the decision but condemned the company and the Government for taking so long to act.Advanta, which imported the oilseed rape from Canada unaware that it was adulterated, emphasised that the payments did not indicate it had accepted liability.Last month the Ministry of Agriculture said that about 500 farms had been affected. GM-contaminated seeds were sown on about 9,000 acres in 1999 and 4,500 this year.The ministry had already told farmers that they could not sell their oilseed rape in Europe and advised them to destroy affected crops.Nick Brown, the Minister of Agriculture, told the House of Commons that the incident posed "no threat to public health or the environment". Environmental campaigners expressed concern and some farmers ploughed up their fields, fearing that they would never find buyers for the contaminated crops.Yesterday Advanta said: "After detailed discussions of other alternatives, Advanta has now determined that at this late stage in the growing season, the only practical course of action is for farmers to remove these crops.

In a meeting with Maff earlier this week, Advanta presented proposals for a fair and equitable compensation package that could be made available to farmers who have grown crops from the affected seeds."Independent agricultural advisers, professional loss adjusters and farmers' unions will work out a final settlement within the next few weeks, said Advanta, which has an annual turnover of £24m and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Advanta BV, based in the Netherlands.The company said: "Advanta is making this gesture not because of any liability but because it has always, and continues, to put the interests of its merchants and their farmer customers first.". When you book into a B&B you never quite know what you're going to get. Last weekend in Suffolk, our B&B was so awful I had to check out a day early. But a few weeks ago in Hampshire, I stumbled across a gorgeous place.

Sorry, but my generous nature doesn't quite stretch to telling you exactly where it is. When you book into a B&B you never quite know what you're going to get. Last weekend in Suffolk, our B&B was so awful I had to check out a day early. But a few weeks ago in Hampshire, I stumbled across a gorgeous place.

Sorry, but my generous nature doesn't quite stretch to telling you exactly where it is. Not only was it idyllic, it was right on the banks of a lovely bit of river. The first question, of course, after "where do you want us to put the car?" was "can we fish it?" The answer was yes, although we were told that there were only tiny fish in there. As if that made any difference.We had spent the whole of the previous day fishing on the Test, as posh a spot of fishing as anyone could hope for, and had packed away our rods. So this extra fishing activity was an unexpected bonus.Although the lawn that led to the river was immaculate, the actual casting was difficult because of the trees. In fact, we worked out that there was really only one spot from which it could be done, and then the casting had to be done at a very particular angle. I say we, but it was Pete really because I always think I can cast from almost anywhere and have to learn the hard way. Pete approaches it like a mathematician and within about 30 seconds had worked out the exact angle and was casting away.Then two more guests arrived, a man and his missus.