River foam had no environmental impact, says EA

The Environment Agency did find detergents present in the water

Water testing has found a large stretch of white foam which appeared on a river had "no environmental impact".

The Environment Agency (EA) took water quality readings of the River Skerne in Darlington with multimeters after the snow-like foam appeared in September, and they all came back within the usual limits of the river.

Low levels of detergents were found, with the EA's National Chemicals Team concerned it could be fire-fighting foam, but it was confirmed none had been used in the previous 48 hours.

A spokesperson for the EA said "foam cases are very time sensitive" and urged people to call their incident hotline as soon as they saw them.

Chris Davison, who discovered the foam when cycling home on 24 September, said he was pleased there was no long-term environmental impact as "any kind of pollution in our rivers is a tragedy".

"I was really worried about the wildlife, considering the volume of the white foam I witnessed.

"I'm a bit disappointed they could not pinpoint exactly where the source of the pollution came from."

He added: "My only worry is that whoever did this, might think they can get away with it and do it again."

The foam on the River Skerne disappeared within days

Ben Lamb, CEO of the Tees Rivers Trust, said it is "good news" the Skerne avoided a pollution incident following the foam-wave.

He said it was "less encouraging that the source remains unknown" and nothing could be done to stop it happening again.

"The EA need more resources to carry out their work effectively," Mr Lamb said.

"Incidents like this shine a light on the strange lack of respect that we as a society have for our water."

An EA spokesperson said: "Our officers conducted water testing of the River Skerne after a foam incident in Darlington in September.

"Thankfully, our findings show no environmental impact as water quality readings were as expected."