Anger as sewage spill floods football pitch

Anger as sewage spill floods football pitch

3 hours ago Share Save Robbie Macdonald Local Democracy Reporter and Dan Wareing BBC News, Lancashire Share Save

LDRS Councillor David Whipp said the flooding lasted almost a week

A water company has been accused of a "disgraceful" slow response after raw sewage "fountained" from a broken mains pipe and flooded a football pitch in Lancashire. The burst pipe released uncontrolled sewage into Stocks Beck river, Pendle, which made its way into the River Ribble and on to both the football and cricket playing fields in Barnoldswick. Councillor David Whipp, from Pendle Council, said the flooding on 23 August lasted almost a week and United Utilities (UU) did not take "effective action" until he reported it to the Environment Agency. UU apologised and said its teams "quickly responded" to the incident with a temporary fix.

"On the Sunday 24 August, I saw contractors working on the sewer and assumed the problem had been fixed," the Liberal Democrat councillor told the Local Democracy Reporting Service. "But I was horrified when I was called to the site on the Wednesday to find massive amounts of black sewage spewing out over the adjacent football pitch and into the stream from the broken sewer."

LDRS Uncontrolled sewage flowed out of the burst pipe and into the Stocks Beck river

He added: "Even worse was the following day, when sewage was fountaining two metres into the air following a heavy rain shower." He said it took three reports to the Environment Agency before UU managed to contain the spill. Mr Whipp claimed UU's initial response was a "disgrace" and that he would be raising questions about the incident at a council committee meeting. "I'm demanding answers, not only about short-term repairs, but their plans to renew the ageing sewer system and prevent horrific incidents like this in future," he said.

'Complex damage'

UU said its team installed a "temporary solution" until a full repair could be carried out. "Due to the complexity of the damage and heavier rain than anticipated, we increased our operational response to ensure no further spills to the environment occurred," a the company said. "We apologise for any inconvenience this has caused and we continue to work closely with both the cricket and football clubs to ensure that, once our repair is complete, we make-good their facilities."

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