Swimmers at one Merseyside beach were disgusted after they spotted what they believed to be sewage floating in the River Mersey.
On Saturday morning, (May 13) Chris Britton headed out to Mother Redcaps Beach in New Brighton with his swimming group The Reluctant Runners. While preparing to go for a dip the group spotted something floating in the water.
Chris said they saw a "big brown" stream in the Mersey and while The Reluctant Runners noticed it before going in, one group of swimmers had already entered the water.
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Chris told the ECHO: "One of our members noticed a stream of effluence, and you could see the difference, not just the colour but it did not look the same as the surrounding water. You could see the debris mixed in and we are a proud group and try to look after the beach as much as possible.
"We are seeing animals that have been missing from our river for so long and now we are putting that at risk by dumping raw sewage into the river itself. Fortunately, we did not go in but another group did and got out quickly."
Chris from, Prenton said that they then went to find another place to swim. The 42-year-old has been a member of the Reluctant Runners for a year and joined for the health benefits that come with cold water swimming.
Chris said: "I'm upset about it and it is not just myself, Richard who recorded the video you can hear the frustration in his voice because it has taken so long to get the river into such a clean condition.
"We ended up going a lot further up and went to another place that is not connected to the river. We take pride in where we swim."
A spokesperson for United Utilities said: “We have carried out a thorough investigation and can confirm that the reported pollution on New Brighton beach at the weekend is not related to any of our operations.”
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