Rylands v Fletcher

Question 1

What are the elements of the tort?

Answer 1

Claimant must satisfy the following:​

The defendant had control of the land from which the problem came from;​

The defendant must have brought or accumulated something during some unnatural use of the land;​

The thing brought or accumulated must be dangerous, (meaning it is likely to cause damage if it escapes from the land); ​

There must be an escape of the dangerous thing; and​

There must be damage as a result of the escape. ​

The principles have been adapted and changed ov

Question 2

D must control the land. The tort will only apply where the land onto which the dangerous thing is brought is in the control of the defendant.

Answer 2

Smith v Scott [1973]

Question 3

Must control A defendant can also incur liability for bringing a dangerous thing onto the highway, if it then escapes onto someone’s land.

Answer 3

Rigby v Chief Constable of Northamptonshire [1985]

Question 4

Bringing onto land The dangerous thing must have been accumulated or brought onto the defendant’s land in the course of some ‘unnatural’ use of the land. ​

The rule does not apply to damage caused by anything which naturally occurs there, this will usually cause an action in nuisance or negligence

Answer 4

Leakey v National Trust [1980]

Question 5

Bringing onto land The thing must be accumulated for the purpose of the defendant, but this does not necessarily mean that it also has to be for the defendant’s benefi

Answer 5

Smeaton v Ilford Corporation [1954]

Question 6

Bringing onto the land There has to be something which is more that the ordinary use of the land.

Answer 6

Rickards v Lothian [1913]

Question 7

BOL Industrial processes can be an ‘unnatural use of the land’, even if it benefits the community.

Answer 7

Cambridge Water v Eastern Counties Leather [1994]

Question 8

BOL Cause of action is now only available if the defendant’s use of the land was out of the ordinary, considering the time and place.

Answer 8

Transco plc v Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council [2004]

Question 9

What does it mean by dangerous thing? Give some examples for good measure! :)

Answer 9

The thing need not be dangerous in itself, but it must be likely to cause damage should an escape occur, even though it might be quite safe if it is not allowed to escape. ​

In Rylands the dangerous thing was the accumulation of water.​

Examples of things which the courts have decided are dangerous for the purpose of this tort are:​

Gas (Batchellor v Tunbridge Wells Gas Co (1901))​

Electricity (Hillier v Air Ministry (1962))​

Poisonous Fumes (West v British Tramways Co. [1908])​

A Flag Pole (Shiffman v Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem [1936])​

Tree Branches (Crowhurst v Amersham Burial Board (1879)) ​

Car on a Fairground ride (Hale v Jennings Bros [1938])

Question 10

How does the court deem the thing dangerous? Give a case example.

Answer 10

To assist the court in determining whether something is dangerous…​

Is it foreseeable that the thing accumulated could cause damage from the time of the accumulation. ​

In Cambridge Water, at the time the chemicals were accumulated the amount of contamination caused to the water supply was within acceptable standard. ​

The courts held that later, when the law was changed making the levels of contamination become unacceptable, could not have been foreseeable and the defendant’s escaped liab

Question 11

Escape The dangerous thing must be the thing that escapes and causes the damage.

Answer 11

Stannard v Gore (t/a wyvern tyres) [2012]

Question 12

Damage The dangerous thing must cause damage to land or other property. ​

A claim for personal injury or death cannot be claimed under Rylands v Fletcher.

Answer 12

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