A Wiltshire family’s 12-year row with the Environment Agency over a £140 permit has reached Parliament - costing millions in the process.

Brothers Steve, 66, and Ewan Earl, 57, from Westwood, near Bradford on Avon, claim their family and development business has been put through more than a decade of physical, financial and emotional agony over the lengthy legal wrangling.

In 2009 the Earls’ firm SPE Developments bought North Mill on the River Avon at Avoncliff and applied for a £140 water abstraction licence for a hydro-electric power scheme to power the mill.

But the agency refused the application over another on the south bank.

However, it was found the application process was flawed and despite the EA admitting this has refused to pay the compensation ruled in favour of the brothers.

A report said the damages from the legal battle were £3 million back in 2017 but the EA have only paid out just over £200,000.

The brothers claim an alleged catalogue of bias, bullying and bad practice resulting in serious maladministration throughout the process by the EA.

“We have been confronted with obstacle after obstacle; been misled and had deadlines to fix the mistakes offered and then ignored,” said Steve.

“At the outset, we had a perfectly viable project which would have restored this historic mill, provided green energy into the national grid, repaired the weir at Avoncliff and seen our business and our families enjoy the success we had built up over the years.

“Instead, our business and our professional reputation has been shredded, our savings exhausted in legal battles and our families emotionally and psychologically exhausted.”

Despite the Information Commissioner, a Judicial Review ordering action and a Parliamentary Ombudsman’s investigation finding the EA guilty of numerous instances of maladministration, the agency has refused to meet the valuations of compensation.

It has forced the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman to take the unusual step of laying the report before Parliament, in a bid to force it to properly compensate the brothers.

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman Rob Behrens said: “The emotional impact this case has taken on Steve and Ewan Earl and their wider family demonstrates why it is vital we hold Government departments to account for their mistakes.

“The refusal of the Agency to comply with our recommendations and provide adequate compensation reflects a failure of the constitutional process, which was set up to give people like the Earls a remedy for the hardship they have suffered.

“When public bodies behave in this way it ultimately erodes public trust and confidence in the services they provide.”

In response, the Environment Agency said: “The Environment Agency has made strenuous and constructive efforts to agree to a fair and reasonable settlement. 

“We reject the Ombudsman’s assertion that we have sought to undermine the individuals concerned. On the contrary, we have done all we reasonably can to respond to the Ombudsman’s views and to offer suitable compensation. 

“We have followed the Ombudsman’s recommendations as far as we can, and regret that it was impossible to achieve a consensus and that this matter could not have been concluded sooner.

“The proposed compensation to draw this long-running issue to a close is generous whilst remaining consistent with the spirit of managing public money.”

The spokesman added they offered to pay £231,200 to the complainants, of which the Agency has already paid £208,000. 

Simon Hamlyn, chief executive of the British Hydropower Association, said: “The failings, in this case, sadly echo the concerns of our members’ experiences about the Environment Agency’s handling of hydropower licence applications.

“Many small hydropower operators and community schemes depend on the Environment Agency to get things right.

“If they don’t, they must fix their mistakes swiftly or risk causing long-term problems for businesses and communities. They must also put into practice their obligations under the Regulators Code of Practice.

“We need to embrace more environmentally friendly energy solutions, such as hydro-power. The Environment Agency must maintain public and business confidence when managing its different licencing schemes.”