The Dorset Frome is one of only 200 chalk streams in the world, the vast majority of which are in the UK and provide a unique habitat for wildlife as well as mineral-rich pure water.
The estate was advised in 2018 how it could apply for an increase in its permitted abstraction levels, but said steps would be taken to reduce the amount of water being used.
The Ilchester Estate in Dorset is owned by Charlotte Townshend, who was listed at 287 in the 2024 Sunday Times Rich List thanks to inherited wealth, with her fortune now estimated at a staggering £489 million.
An estate owned by one of Britain’s richest women has been fined nearly £28,000 after it used the equivalent of three Olympic-sized swimming pools worth of water during a drought.
Where companies or individuals hold licences to take water from them, they cannot ignore the conditions attached and take as much water as they like.
