We live by UK’s smelliest river – vile stench of sewage & dead fish is ruining our lives… we can’t even open windows
THOUSANDS of well-dressed punters sink pints and laugh over wine as they cheer on the horses at the Cartmel races.
But days later this great day out for families and racegoers brings misery to a village less than two miles downstream from the stunning Lake District course.
A water company has admitted pumping sewage into the River Eea in Cark almost every day in breach of its permit, creating a sewage stink in the picturesque Cumbrian village.
And it's far worse on national hunt race days, with locals reporting seeing tampons, toilet paper and dead fish in the dirty water which has, at times, turned dark blue from toilet cleaner.
Some will not let children play in the sludge stream, with neighbours claiming they have to keep their windows closed from the "foul stench".
Enraged villagers say it has been going on for 20 years. Grandmother-of-six Marian Hadwin, 71, whose house is by the river, tells The Sun: "It's revolting - a vile smell.
REAL LIFE FEATURES
"It smells of sewage and this has been going on for years.
“We are fed up with it, but why should we move? This is a great place to live apart from the smell and all the stuff that comes down the river - especially on race days.
“I won’t let my grandkids play in the water and if I see any children in the water I tell them to get out as I fear they will get ill.”
Her neighbour Rhona Barton, 70, agrees: "It's a disgusting smell especially on after the races.
Most read in The Sun
“It stinks, like someone has gone to the toilet in the river.
“I’ve seen sanitary towels, dead fish, tampons, toilet paper and all manner of disgusting things.
“It regularly goes a horrible grey colour. It has turned dark blue at times from toilet cleaner that is thrown down the portaloos at the races.
“This has being going on for years and needs sorting out.
It regularly goes a horrible grey colour. It has turned dark blue at times from toilet cleaner that is thrown down the portaloos at the races
Rhona Barton, Cark resident
“We have been campaigning to get the water company to do something about it, but it hasn’t stopped. It’s outrageous.”
The Environment Agency said water company United has been spilling sewage into Cark, or Cartmel-in-Cark as it is officially known, during dry weather in breach of its permit.
Data compiled by The Rivers Trust found the pumping station at Cark spilled 321 times into the River Eea for a total of 4,421 hours last year.
Water companies are allowed to spill sewage only under exceptional circumstances, when it is raining so heavily that the system cannot cope with the amount of water and effluent.
Leaning on his balcony which looks down at the river, Marian's husband Wilf, 75, shakes his head at the state of the water.
The retired farmer says: "There used to be salmon and trout in the river here, but not anymore. Now it's just mainly eels.
"The water company have ruined it. We live by Britain's smelliest river - it's horrendous.
"We keep our windows closed, especially on race days.
The water company have ruined it. We live by Britain's smelliest river - it's horrendous. We keep our windows closed, especially on race days
Wilf Hadwin, Cark resident
"The authorities need to get their act together and do their job and put a stop to the sewage leaks. It's outrageous it's been going on for so long."
Walking his dog Eggbert near the pumping station, Chris Gallagher-York says he would be wary of allowing his young daughter to go into the river when she is older.
The dad-of-one admits: "It is a worry, but I can’t smell it where I live as it is a little bit further away from the river.
“However I have smelt it when walking the dog a few days after race days.
“It’s sad really, but it just shows the state of the rivers in this country. They really need cleaning up.”
'Sick of it'
Cartmel Racecourse holds a lot of its meetings on bank holidays with many families combining it with holidays.
There are fun fairs, DJs and bands playing at night with ABBA tribute act Björn Again booked for a meeting in June.
Cartmel also has the only three-star Michelin restaurant in the north of England.
Cark itself has two pubs, a village shop and a post office with the River Eea running through the middle.
It used to have a water-powered cotton mill in the 18th and early 19th century employing 400 men, women and children.
RAF Cark was an active airfield during World War Two less than half a mile away.
Cark Airfield now hosts a parachute school where boy band JLS have jumped out of a plane.
Retired fitter John Lennox, 75, said: “It’s a lovely place to live except for the problems with the river.
It’s a lovely place to live except for the problems with the river
John Lennox, resident
“We don’t smell it all that often but I have friends who live by the river. They really are sick of it as it has been going on for far too long.
“It really stinks at times down there, especially after the races.”
The Environment Agency findings were detailed in a letter to Tim Farron, the local MP, after a suspected spill on Valentine's Day.
Jim Ratcliffe, the agency's manager for Cumbria and Lancashire, said the environmental impact of the spill "had the potential to be significant".
He added: "The assessment found that the pumping station was spilling in dry weather in breach of its permit."
Former Undertones singer and clean rivers campaigner Feargal Sharkey said: "The Environment Agency demonstrates yet again that they are incapable of regulating the water industry.”
The agency has issued a warning to United Utilities.
Farron, also the Liberal Democrat spokesman for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, called for the government to introduce tougher penalties on water companies, tax their unearned profits and spend them on water infrastructure.
A United Utilities spokesperson said: "We are continuing to work with the Environment Agency to deliver on an action plan to tackle groundwater infiltration issues at Cartmel-in-Cark pumping station."
The Environment Agency said: "We are clear that polluting our rivers is unacceptable."
Back in Cark, the river is clear when The Sun visits.
While walking through the village to his home half a mile away, retired miner Jack Hall, 96, says: “It looks pretty clear by the pub.
“I have to say I haven’t come across the bad smell myself, but I know a lot of people aren’t happy about it because it’s been around so long.”
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Looking across her balcony, Marian is not confident of a happy outcome.
“I think we’ll still be complaining about it in a few years time," she sighs. “This is a bad smell that just won’t go away.”
