Five fall ill with E. coli at beauty spot

Aysgarth Falls is a popular Yorkshire Dales attraction

A campaign group has claimed five people and one dog fell ill after being infected with E. coli at a Yorkshire Dales beauty spot.

Volunteers from Stop Ure Pollution have been regularly testing the water at Aysgarth Falls and issued a "red alert" last week due to a level of bacteria nearly three times above the high risk threshold.

Yorkshire Water said bacteria in rivers could come from a variety of sources, including storm overflow discharges, agricultural run-off and wildlife. The firm said it was investing in improving river health.

Prof Richard Loukota, who conducted the tests, said: "We don't want people to stop using the river, we want them to be able to use the river safely."

Prof Loukota said the five people had fallen ill in July and one person had been hospitalised as a result.

According to the campaign group, the measure of contamination - called an endotoxin risk unit (ERU) - of more than 58 is classed as high risk.

Recent measurements along the River Ure had given results of 151, 166, 151, 149 and 146.

Prof Loukota said: "The reason we're doing it is because people can get ill.

"I was at Aysgarth Falls testing on Saturday, it was a beautiful sunny day and there must have been 20 people in front of me that were all paddling in it.

"They then come out and have their picnic at the picnic tables and I don't see a lot of hand hygiene."

The group tests the water weekly at Ulshaw Bridge, downstream of Middleham, using two methods - a handheld water testing kit which gives a result in 15 minutes, and through a chemical laboratory in Manchester.

According to Dr Loukota the test results showed 2,100 colony forming units (CFU) and he said "poor is anything above 900 - so we were way above that".

A spokesperson for Yorkshire Water said: "We are determined to play our part to improve river health and we will be investing millions of pounds in 14 storm overflows that discharge into the River Ure over the next five years to help improve river health.

"This is part of a £1.5bn investment across the region to reduce discharges into watercourses.

"While we reduce discharges, it is important other organisations, businesses, and individuals come together so we can tackle all sources of pollution to our region's watercourses."

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