An oil spill in the River Kennet that harmed dozens of swans has resulted in a Reading garage issued with a warning - and the business now faces a financial penalty, The Reading Chronicle can reveal. 

In July, charity Swan Support were called by residents in Cholmeley Road after more than 20 swans were found covered in oil and struggling to breathe along the nearby waterway. 

Volunteers from the wildlife group rescued more than 18 swans in the space of 24 hours. 

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Now an Environment Agency investigation has resulted in a formal warning issued to DN Autos at the corner of London Road and Cholmeley Road.

The government agency intends to charged the garage for the cost of the investigation. 

Samples taken from the river and checks in the sewers confirmed that oil had travelled from the garage via the drainage system, according to a spokesperson from the Environment Agency. 

They said: "We have issued a warning to a vehicle repair workshop in Reading after it polluted the River Kennet.

“Specialist officers gave advice to the company on the correct way to store and drain oil in an effort to avoid a repeat, and told them that any similar incidents could lead to enforcement action.

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“We are grateful to those who rang our 24-hour incident hotline on 0800 807060 about the pollution.”

Sagar Limbu, the owner of DN Autos for the last two years, said the Environment Agency's findings "didn't make sense."

He said: "We don't think that it's just from our site. 

"They are saying we poured oil into the drain, but that doesn’t make sense.

"The amount of oil doesn’t make sense. Garages don’t do these things, We have a collection."

The business owner said the garage's processes to safely contain and remove oil had improved over the last two years. 

He said: “We’re really working on it. We don’t think that it’s just from our site, but we are going to buy an oil separator.

"The oil thing, since I took over we have improved 200 percent."

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Mr Limbu said he was seeking more information from the Environment Agency about the investigation. 

The swans harmed by the oil pollution earlier in the year were taken off-site to be cleaned and care for, before being returned the river shorty afterwards, according to Swan Support director Wendy Hermon. 

Wendy, who founded Swan Support more than 30 years ago, said: “It was really bad. We had to take them off site because they were covered - and you could smell it on them. They were ingesting it."