Restaurant owner fined for buying salmon illegally

The owner of a Cumbrian restaurant has been ordered to pay £1,500 and been given a 12-month community order for buying illegally caught salmon.

Angela Dean of the Blacksmith's restaurat in Bigrigg, Egremont appeared before West Allerdale Magistrates' Court where she pleaded guilty to the offence, according to the Carlisle News and Star.

The news came after a visit to the restaurant by Environment Agency fisheries officers last August, following a tip-off that Dean was buying fish illegally.

The court heard how Dean received a phone call from a man on 26 August, asking if she wanted to buy some salmon, which she agreed to.

Dean was given a 12-month community sentence and ordered to carry out 40 hours of unpaid work.

She was also ordered to pay £1,500 in costs to the Environment Agency.

The prosecution by the Environment Agency was aimed at discourating the purchase of salmon at the "back door".