Deliberate Pollution of Ribble Continues

The pollution incident we reported yesterday has been compounded with a second, disastrous discharge, probably from a reckless tanker driver who has poured cooking oil, raw batter and detergent into a drain on the A59 at Smithies Bridge near Chatburn. The pollution continued into Swanside Beck near Sawley and has killed thousands of Ribble fish and other aquatic life.

Click here for the full report from Clitheroe Today

Mr Fred Higham, chairman of Ribblesdale Angling Association and pollution officer for Ribble Fisheries Consultative described the incident as the "worst deliberate act of pollution" he had ever witnessed.
"Not only fish have been lost, but undoubtedly much aquatic river life has also been wiped out. It breaks my heart when I see crows ripping into dying fish."
The latest pollution incident comes three weeks after an unknown substance was leaked into Barrow Brook, killing hundreds of trout, eels and other fish and insects. At the time, someone illegally emptied a tanker into a road drain on the A59 – about 300 yards north of the A671 roundabout – which caused the deadly pollution in the waterway.

Link to photograph at Keeper's Blog of the effects of the pollution on fish stocks