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| Edinburgh Woollen Mill boss Philip Day fined over wood damage | Edinburgh Woollen Mill boss Philip Day fined over wood damage |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| A tycoon has been ordered to pay almost £1m for damage caused to ancient woodland in Cumbria. | A tycoon has been ordered to pay almost £1m for damage caused to ancient woodland in Cumbria. |
| Philip Day, owner of the Edinburgh Woollen Mill chain, tried to use the "power of his wealth to avoid responsibility", a court heard. | Philip Day, owner of the Edinburgh Woollen Mill chain, tried to use the "power of his wealth to avoid responsibility", a court heard. |
| He was fined £450,000 and ordered to pay prosecution costs of about £457,000 after admitting two counts of damaging Gelt Woods on his land near Brampton. | He was fined £450,000 and ordered to pay prosecution costs of about £457,000 after admitting two counts of damaging Gelt Woods on his land near Brampton. |
| Day, 47, will appeal against the sentence, a spokesman said. | |
| Trees were felled and land excavated in order to build an access track. | Trees were felled and land excavated in order to build an access track. |
| Day, whose firm has a turnover of £240m, had claimed the work was being carried out to make a riverbank safe after a landslip. | |
| 'Grossly negligent' | 'Grossly negligent' |
| The Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) is protected due its age and the form of gorge woodland, a type peculiar to north Cumbria and parts of Scotland. | |
| Natural England brought the prosecution. | Natural England brought the prosecution. |
| The woodland has become an important habitat for flora, fauna, insects and birds on the slopes around the banks of the River Gelt where the water has cut a rocky gorge through the sandstone. | The woodland has become an important habitat for flora, fauna, insects and birds on the slopes around the banks of the River Gelt where the water has cut a rocky gorge through the sandstone. |
| Prosecutors at Carlisle Crown Court said the track was created in November 2010 to provide access for shooting. | Prosecutors at Carlisle Crown Court said the track was created in November 2010 to provide access for shooting. |
| Presiding Judge Peter Hughes QC, who gave his judgment at Carlisle Crown Court on Wednesday, said Day had been "grossly negligent" in relation to the works. | Presiding Judge Peter Hughes QC, who gave his judgment at Carlisle Crown Court on Wednesday, said Day had been "grossly negligent" in relation to the works. |
| Janette Ward, Natural England's regulation director, said: "Legal action is always regrettable, and we were disappointed that a woodland of such ecological importance, and one that was very special to the local community, was so severely damaged." | Janette Ward, Natural England's regulation director, said: "Legal action is always regrettable, and we were disappointed that a woodland of such ecological importance, and one that was very special to the local community, was so severely damaged." |
| A spokesman for Day said: "As acknowledged by the judge in this case, Philip Day did not deliberately set out to damage a SSSI. | |
| "Mr Day is passionate about the countryside and committed to conservation. He was shocked to find that damage had been caused to the site by contractors." | |
| The spokesman added that a full restoration programme had been completed over two years ago and the fine was "nine times the amount imposed for previous similar offences". |