Warning over pool

Townsfolk have been asked not to restock a pond with fish as it naturally refills after being drained earlier this year.The water was removed from Northwell Pool in Swaffham in February after it became contaminated with sewage.

Townsfolk have been asked not to restock a pond with fish as it naturally refills after being drained earlier this year.

The water was removed from Northwell Pool in Swaffham in February after it became contaminated with sewage.

The pool, which sits at the corner of New Sporle Road and Northwell Pool Road, is now being left by Anglian Water and it has said water levels should rise again in the coming months.

But the company has warned that although many in the town see it as a recreational area, Northwell Pool is in fact an integral part of the county's waste water system and it is unfair to introduce fish into it.

The pool regularly takes in road and excess surface water and there is the ever present threat of sewage pollution.

A spokesman said: “This is not a village pond - this is part of the system.

“It is a balancing pool and takes overflow surface water. It is not meant to be full of water all the time.

“People in the area have been stocking the pool with fish but we try to tell them not to because it is not clean water.”

All the fish died in February due to the sewage contamination, which was cause by a blocked pipe causing a backup of sewage.

Anglain Water said it tried to avoid such incidents happening wherever possible.