United Utilities sewage leak: Whistleblower claims there was 'more to it' following Fylde Coast sea pollution incident

The person, who didn't want to be named but worked within the company, claimed a burst pipe was in fact the collapse of an outfall pipe and was concerned that even the slightest bit of rain could cause a catastrophic incident which would see sewage leaking into rivers and up through grids into roads.

But United Utilities kicked back and stood by their statement issued on Tuesday morning that the situation was firmly under control and contingency plans were in place to ensure any further rainfall would not overwhelm the system for a second time.

In contacting The Gazette, the anonymous person said: "I am sure your readers realise that a bit of rain on Monday night isn't completely responsible to close the entire bathing waters.

"United Utilities has declared a major incident. They are currently bringing tankers in to transport hundreds of gallons of sewage to Preston Marsh. There is no network capacity at the moment, with the closure of Skippool and Lennox Gate pumping stations and even the slightest bit of rain could cause waste flowing into rivers and out into roads.

"Their plan is to put a 2km temporary pipe in place, across Fleetwood Marsh Nature Reserve.

"I have a moral standpoint with this. We all pay our water rates and they should be brutally honest about it."

United Utilities confirmed that thunderstorms on Monday night resulted in untreated sewage, mixed with rainwater, being released into the sea. The Fylde Coast's three councils advised the public not to swim off the Fylde Coast until further notice.

United Utilities press officer Gemma Rathbone said: "It is a burst pipe in Fleetwood which carries treated and cleaned water out to sea. The burst pipe happened on Sunday 11th June so the system was already running on a reduced rate when the rain fell on Monday and we were already utilising storm water tanks and extra storage.

"The rain on Monday night brought 40mm in a short space of time which overwhelmed the system to full capacity which meant releasing some of that overflow into the sea.

"And we were absolutely using tankers to take waste water to other treatment works to help keep things running as best as we could.

"To prevent the system from becoming overloaded again, the initial plan is to divert the water through an overland pipe. This would be a 2km pipeline across Fleetwood Nature Reserve - but we are still assessing and looking at other options to find the right solution to protect the environment.

"We don't have a timescale in place at the moment but we will update as soon as we can."

The company confirmed that the pumping stations at Skippool and Lennox Gate were closed out of choice to ease the pressure on Fleetwood Waste Water Treatment Works. Instead the waste was being transferred by tankers to other wastewater plants.