Royal warrant in doubt for Queen’s favourite cheddar

THE Queen could revoke a royal warrant for her favourite cheddar cheese after its producer received a £1.5million fine for polluting a river.

Buckingham Palace could strip the honour from the Davidstow Creamery in Cornwall on environmental grounds after it discharged waste into the nearby river Inny, killing fish.

Dairy Crest, its parent company, received the penalty last week over its management of the creamery which released waste with a foul “eggy odour” into the water over several years.

Buckingham Palace sources have indicated that royal warrants are constantly under review and can be revoked at any time.

They are currently held by firms favoured by the Royal family, including Bollinger, Fortnum & Mason, Jaguar Land Rover, and Waitrose.

Dairy Crest – makers of Cathedral City cheese and Country Life butter – admitted charges relating to pollution, odour incidents and permit breaches at Truro Crown Court.

The hearing was told that the company had installed new equipment in 2016 with the intention of producing baby formula, but this did not work as intended and, over the course of several years, “biological waste” was discharged into the river.

The judge in the case said that the eggy odour from the waste was so strong that “over many years it blighted the lives of people living nearby” and some people “were literally unable to leave their houses”.

The discharge also affected nutrient levels which resulted in the deaths of trout and salmon.

A spokesman for the palace said: “Dairy Crest made us aware of this issue some time ago and have kept us informed on their actions in response.”

Dairy Crest has previously offered its “sincere apologies” to those affected by the pollution stating that “considerable work has been undertaken to rectify the historic issues”.