YORKSHIRE Water is due to appear in court later this month to face charges over pollution that saw Bradford Beck run black.

The Environment Agency initially gave the Bradford-based company a written warning over the incident which saw a large amount of pollution seep into a part of the beck in August 2018.

Pictures show the water had turned black near Ambler Mill opposite Forster Square Retail Park and there were reports that wildlife had also been killed.

An investigation at the time by the Environment Agency found that the cause was sewage flowing into the beck intermittently due to the blockage of a sewer overflow.

However the Friends of Bradford's Becks group felt more action should have been taken against the company, which confirmed it had put measures in place to prevent a similar failure happening again.

They pushed for the investigation to be re-opened, and the Environment Agency confirmed in 2019 that they had done so.

Now it has been confirmed that they are prosecuting the company.

A spokesman said: "Yorkshire Water Ltd is due to appear at Leeds Magistrates’ Court on 15 March charged with offences relating to a pollution incident which happened at Bradford Beck between September 2017 and August 2018."

Outrage as stretch of Bradford Beck runs black

Investigation into Bradford Beck pollution is re-opened

Robert Hellawell, a pollution hunter, told the Telegraph and Argus how he had spotted dead trout in Bradford Beck, which he initially thought was a result of a fire in commercial premises next to the beck in August 2018.

He said: "The bed of the river was covered with black sediment. I assumed this was burnt debris washed into the river from the fire fighting. At the time, the Environment Agency insisted that there was no contamination from the fire and did no further investigations into the dead fish reports.

"After the fire, I arranged with colleagues from Friends of Bradford's Becks to inspect upstream of the fire site to see if there was evidence of pollution above the site of the fire.

"We found that Bradford Beck was running black with sewage pollution from beneath the city centre, whilst upstream of the city centre the Beck was flowing clear. This was reported immediately to the Environment Agency."

He added: "I carried out environmental sampling of several sites upstream and downstream of the city centre which showed a devastating impact of the sewage pollution on the aquatic invertebrates downstream of the city centre, whilst upstream it showed that the Beck was full of life. I submitted the results of my findings to the Environment Agency."

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