Fury among anglers after sewage dumped in river

A video of the waste being discharged into the River Irwell was taken by one of the anglers

Anglers have been left outraged after sewage was reportedly dumped into a river on the first day of the fishing season.

Mike Duddy, chairman of Salford Friendly Anglers Society, posted a video of the reported discharge of raw sewage into the River Irwell near Manchester city centre.

"It stinks, you can’t enjoy the river like that," he said. "Everyone just packed up and went home."

A spokesman for United Utilities said the overflow drain operated "as it is designed to" after a period of heavy rain in the area.

Raw sewage has been dumped into the River Irwell thousands of times

The River Irwell is one of the dirtiest rivers in Greater Manchester and across the country with thousands of sewage spills taking place each year.

Water companies are permitted to release untreated sewage into rivers to avoid flooding properties during heavy rainfall, known as spills.

A BBC investigation recently discovered that 6,000 possible illegal sewage spills, where raw waste was discharged when the weather was dry, took place in 2022.

But water companies dispute the findings which they said had not been verified.

'Sewage-infested'

Mr Duddy said there had been about five minutes of rain before the sewage spilled out into the river near Trinity Way.

The 58-year-old told the Local Democracy Reporting Service a lot of anglers had gathered on the river for the start of the fishing season.

Calling on the authorities to invest in new sewers, he said: "We are building a first class city but it's got third class infrastructure.

"It's totally wrong they should be allowed to tip their sewage into the river if it rains for three minutes.

"It tells you they need to build a sewage network fit for the city."

Prof Jamie Woodward, a researcher at the University of Manchester whose work has focused on pollution in the area’s rivers, said the problem was a "blight on our great city".

He added: "A sunny day in Manchester and sewage is being dumped in the River Irwell, the most sewage-infested river in England."

The United Utilities spokesman said the current system was "designed to activate during rainfall".

But he added the company "understands and share people's concerns about the need for change", and has proposed to invest £3bn to "tackle storm overflows in the North West".

The firm has recently started a £38m project to clean up rivers in Bolton which run into the River Irwell.