A polluting pig farm in Linli, a county in Hunan province, was put under the protection of local police when angry villagers and a local environmental protection agency asked it to take action to reduce its pollution, China Daily has learned.

An inscribed tablet hung at the farm's gate said the farm was under protection of the county police.

Cai Mao, manager of the farm, said the reasons local police decided to put the farm under protection were that the farm faced security challenges, such as thefts, and wanted to ensure the safety of pork produced by the farm, the biggest pork producer in the local market.

The pig farm has been a pollution source to local rivers and farmland since its establishment in 2008. It has aroused a lot of complaints, as villagers no longer dare to wash their hands in the rivers and farmland has been destroyed.

The local environmental protection agency told the farm to install sewage treatment facilities, but it did not do so.

When local residents and agencies went to discuss the matter with the pig farm owners, they found it was under the protection of the local police.

Local environment protection agencies said they would take action if the farm failed to take effective measures to curb pollution by June 30.

The farm said it is building sewage treatment facilities and will meet the deadline and make sure any sewage discharged meets standards, media reports said.