A waste-carrying company has been criticised for “prehistoric” working practices despite winning its appeal to reduce a £4,500 fine.

Omega Proteins Ltd was successful in its bid to cut the fine imposed by Bradford Magistrates Court after putrid-smelling grease was spilled on two roads.

But Judge Roger Scott, sitting with two magistrates at Bradford Crown Court today, branded the appeal “wholly unmeritorious” and said the fine should have been four times as high.

He said the company should have been made to pay the £20,000 which could have been imposed at Crown Court, not close to the maximum £5,000 which could be imposed by the Magistrates Court.

He said magistrates should have committed the case to the Crown Court for sentence rather than deciding it themselves.

The court heard that Omega Proteins had three previous convictions for contravening regulations.

In March this year, it pleaded guilty to spilling tallow in Roper Lane en route from its depot in Thornton, Bradford, to Halifax.

The road was closed for four hours while it was sanded, swept and regritted. The court heard the company had paid for the work.

Andrew Woolfall, for Omega Proteins, said a missing spanner triggered the spillage in June last year.

The waste skips had drainage holes plugged by bungs tightened with a spanner. An employee put in the bungs by hand but could not find the spanner. While he went in search of one, a driver inadvertently loaded the sheeted skip and set off.

About a mile into his journey, the bung worked loose, dripping tallow along several miles of road.

Mr Woolfall said it was an unusual set of circumstances not to be foreseen.

But Judge Scott said it was “a prehistoric way of working”, making such an accident likely.

He said the company’s two skips should be fitted with drainage valves not bungs.

Prosecutor Louise Azmi, for Bradford Council, said the tallow was sterile but was putrid-smelling and slippery, making the road treacherous.

In October, 2005, Omega Proteins was fined for failing to store and transport animal parts safely. Pig intestines spilled from a truck in Bingley when it braked sharply to perform an emergency stop.

Mr Woolfall said the company could not use sealed containers because the gaseous waste could explode.

All the vehicles are now fitted with splash guards.

Spanners are on chains so they cannot be removed from the site.

In reply to Mr Woolfall’s submission that the £4,500 was “excessive in the circumstances,” the judge said: “It is a £20,000 case – as bad a case as you are likely to meet.”

The appeal court reduced the fine to £3,334 because Omega Proteins was not given a third off for its prompt guilty plea.

Judge Scott said the spillage was a serious incident, noting that the skip loader went looking for a spanner leaving no message for the driver.

Omega Proteins’ three previous convictions were an aggravating feature.