River Tweed sewage leak causing a stink near Melrose

Author: Ally McGilvrayPublished 11th Apr 2024

It's one of the world's most famous salmon-fishing rivers, and supports hundreds of local jobs.

But concerns are bubbling up over the amount of sewage leaking into the Tweed near Melrose.

Cameron Davidson (pictured), who supports ghillies working on the river, revealed they've had to cancel visitor bookings because of what he says is an "environmental hazard".

Scottish Water says it's aware of an issue with an overflowing manhole, and is working to resolve the problem as quickly as possible.

Speaking to Greatest Hits Radio at the popular fishing spot near the chain bridge at Gattonside, Mr Davidson said: "We have members of this fishing syndicate, their guests, coming here to enjoy a day on an iconic beat, on an iconic river, in a beautiful part of Scotland, and they're having to walk past and experience sewage on the way in.

"It may be worse when the water is high, but it's happening now; it happened in December very badly, and it happened last summer when the water was low.

"We have sewage pouring out onto the path, onto the car park, under the hut now, and into the river. And it's been happening for years.

"There are thousands of families who walk here with children with dogs, to picnic, and regularly the little children will see ducks paddling in what they think is a pond - it's not, it's sewage. So the children go in and play in it, and the dogs go in and play in it."

READ MORE: 'No commitments, no promises' - but Borders rail campaigners welcome meeting with Scottish transport secretary

Scottish Water and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency are being urged to take action.

Scottish Water says it's aware of the issue. A spokesperson said: "Our engineers believe that this may be due to ground water getting into the local network.

"A project is currently being undertaken upstream that should reduce the risk of issues like this happening on this section of the network in the long term and further investigations are ongoing into any other potential causes.

"This work may at times make the issue worse due to the amount of flow being passed forward by the temporary pumps. We are looking to reduce the flow as much as possible, but will need to continue running these pumps in order for the work to continue."

WATCH: Tournament director reveals why this year's Melrose Sevens could be last of its kind

SEPA has visited the site twice this month, following reports of a sewage spill, and said it found "no significant polluting impact on the watercourse".

However, the environment watchdog has vowed to continue to monitor the situation.

A spokesperson said: “We continue to engage with Scottish Water to ensure mitigation measures are correctly deployed.

"We requested Scottish Water consider all reasonable measures to prevent the discharge and communicate the steps taken to investigate the sewer and pumping stations. We will continue to monitor the situation and liaise with both the local authority and the operator."

Anyone who notices a sewage spill is being urged to report it to SEPA's pollution hotline on 0800 80 70 60.

Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Greatest Hits Radio app.