ONE PUBLIC body will be covering for another if the Environment Agency does not prosecute the borough council for draining water from the Nantwich indoor swimming pool into the river, a former councillor claims.

In June the authority's leisure department admitted that the chemically treated water from the Snow Hill baths had been drained into the River Weaver for the past 30 years.

The Agency has told the council that it should connect the bath drains to the public foul sewer. If this is not possible the environment watchdog may consider an application for a Consent to Discharge into the Weaver.

But Brian Silvester, former Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council leader, recalls that the council was warned about the spillage by the National Rivers Authority four years ago.

"If a local farmer had been caught releasing chemically polluted water into the river he would quickly find himself in court," he said.

In a letter to Mr Silvester the Agency states that the discharge from the normal operation of the baths has not caused any noticeable chronic impact on the Weaver.

But they do recognise that the situation "must be rectified to prevent the possibility of a pollution incident or long term localised environmental impact on the river".

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