The water in a stretch of one of Greater Manchester's rivers has been 'left looking milk' as experts probe possible pollution. Locals walking through Alkrington Woods in Middleton were left stunned today (Thursday) after spotting water in the River Irk had turned a white colour.
One says he is now scared to walk his dogs and children through the beauty spot as officers the Environment Agency confirmed they are investigating reports of 'pollution' - the source and nature of which are currently unclear.
Chris Turner, 58, said it was the second time in a week the river had changed colour having last week 'looked like someone had put a load of Persil Automatic in it.'
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Chris, who lives close to Alkrington Woods, discovered the river running white again today shortly before 1:30pm and said it again 'looked like a ton of Washing Powder has been dumped into it.'
The stretch between Middleton Centre and Rhodes, in Alkrington Woods Nature Reserve, has been affected as well as Wince Brook.
"It's just horrendous," he said. "I'm always walking down there with the dogs and the kids. Lots of dogs go in that part of the river, including ours but luckily today I had her on a lead. Who knows what it is. It could be something benign but it doesn't look benign to me."
"I have a bee in my bonnet about it for three reasons, I walk my dogs and kids here, I keep bees and also I'm a fisherman. We all have joint custodianship of the environment and we need to look after it. And this just looks awful.
"There's lots of people who have been down and seen it today and have just been horrified by it. I think there'll be lots complaining about it. It's a sad state of affairs this keeps happening.
Fellow local resident Lydia Thomas said on Twitter: "Walking my dog at lunch in the woods behind my house and this is the River Irk right now. Some disgusting chemical has been dumped. The water is like milk."
Several others shared pictures and videos of the water and questioned what had happened.
A spokesperson for Rochdale Council said they were aware of the issue and that it had been reported to the Environment Agency, who were now looking into it.
"We would always urge people to ring the Environment Agency incident hotline in the first instance on 0800 80 70 60 if they see something like this" the spokesperson added.
The Environment Agency confirmed they had received reports of pollution in the River Irk and that officers were investigating.
A spokesperson for the region's water company United Utilities said: “Our drainage experts are helping the Environment Agency to investigate.”
It is not the first time this issue has arisen. In 2014 the Manchester Evening News reported on the water in Wince Brook having turned 'frothy' and 'milky white' with young ducklings said to have been struggling to swim through the foam in the water.
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