Company fined £4,500 for animal welfare breaches at former pig farm near Lutterworth

A company has been fine £4,500 for breaching animal welfare regulations at a former pig farm.

Four months of secret filming by animal welfare campaign group Viva! in 2020 revealed pigs living in appalling conditions at Flat House Farm in Gilmorton, near Lutterworth. At the time it was home to some 9,000 animals.

An investigation was launched that year and a prosecution was brought by Leicestershire Trading Standards.

Owners Elvidge Farms were sentenced at Leicester Magistrates’ Court yesterday (Tuesday). The firm pleaded guilty to an offence under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, relating to the suitability of environment and enrichment maintenance of the site.

Along with the fine it was also ordered to pay a £181 victim surcharge.

There are no longer any pigs on the site and the business no longer produces meat.

Viva! said its four-month investigation had unearthed a catalogue of neglect and abuse at the site.

A spokeswoman said: “We investigated Flat House Farm in 2020 and our footage revealed grotesque conditions, including rotting corpses and emaciated, sick pigs in squalid conditions. This triggered Red Tractor to drop the farm and Trading Standards to launch their own investigation and court case.

“The court proceeding revealed Flat House Farm is no longer farming pigs, which we are extremely happy about.

“Overall there have been many ups and downs, and this case unfortunately highlights how poor the legal protections are for farmed animals in the UK.”