Clean-up after 1,750 gallons of milk enter stream

A clean‑up operation is under way after about 1,750 gallons (8,000 litres) of milk spilled into a stream.

The Environment Agency said milk was accidentally released from a farm into a watercourse that feeds into the River Exe, near Tiverton in Devon, at about 03:00 GMT on Tuesday.

Officers said the farmer and a delivery driver raised the alarm immediately, helping them "put in place a plan to reduce the risk of environmental harm".

The agency said milk could strip oxygen from water, which could lead to fish dying in large numbers, but it added it had found environmental damage "should be limited".

The farmer built a temporary dam within minutes to stop the pollution spreading further, and Environment Agency teams began pumping the milk onto nearby fields so the soil could safely absorb it.

Officers spent the day tracking the milk as it travelled more than 5 miles (8km) downstream towards Tiverton, taking dissolved‑oxygen readings along the route.

It said those readings "have come back favourable, meaning that environmental damage should be limited".

"Following the milk pollution incident overnight, we have deployed pumps and rain guns to spread the milk that had made it into the water course onto fields," it added.

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