MP’s plea over Harrogate chemical spill after fish die in their hundreds

Oak Beck starts at Beaver Dyke reservoir and flows down into Harrogate through Pot Bank and past Oakdale Golf Club before joining the River Nidd in Bilton close to the Nidd Gorge viaduct.

Last week Harrogate residents, including well-known conservationist Keith Wilkinson MBE who chairs the Nidd Gorge Advisory Partnership, noticed that the water in the beck had changed colour and that hundreds of fish had died and were floating in the river.

Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Jones, who has spoken at length to Mr Wilkinson, has written to the Environment Agency and Yorkshire Water who are investigating the issue but have not yet determined the source of the outbreak.

“This is not the first time we have seen pollutants dumped into Oak Beck,” said Mr Jones.

"I am keen that those responsible face a substantial penalty for doing so. We are currently starting the most massive programme our country has ever seen to remove storm overflows from discharging into our waterways.

Mr Jones continued: "These chemical spills can have far more serious effects. We cannot allow the good work to be undone by these actions whether accidental or deliberate.

“That is why I have asked Yorkshire Water and the Environment Agency to pull out all the stops to find the source of the pollution.

"I want to see the strongest action possible against those responsible.”