The deputy head of a town in Hunan province -- where cadmium pollution has sickened at least 509 people - has been charged with bribery, authorities said yesterday.

The pollution scandal made national headlines following a protest last week by around 1,000 villagers who demanded health check-ups, medical treatment and compensation.

It also led to the chief and a deputy director of the environmental bureau of Liuyang, a county-level city under Hunan's capital of Changsha, losing their jobs.