GREEN campaigners have raised fears about sewage being pumped into Thelwall Brook.

The problem came to light over bank holiday weekend when residents noticed dirty, smelly water emerging from a pipe in the village.

They were told that there must be a problem at the nearby pumping station, and that a mechanism to warn environment chiefs of any difficulties had failed.

One resident, who did not wish to be named, said: "The pipe is meant to be for storm overflow, but the water started flowing very fast and there was a heck of a lot of it coming out. It was grubby and it smelled.

"I think it is worrying that the warning mechanism was not working as nobody was being alerted to what had happened. It is also worrying that contaminated water may have got into the brook."

An Environment Agency spokesman confirmed that staff attended the pumping station and that sewage was going into the brook.

She said: "Two pumps at the station had failed but we are not sure why at the moment. There is an ongoing investigation into the incident so we can find out exactly what went wrong and why."

A United Utilities spokesman explained that the pumping station on the sewer network keeps the water flowing through, and pumps are used when the water has to go uphill.

She said: "There is an overflow pump that is used as a safety valve and is used in times of heavy rainfall or if there are problems with the other pumps, which is why the water was coming out of that one.

"We have been to the site and investigated the situation and we have now got temporary pumps running while the other ones are being repaired. We have taken action very quickly."