Queues of tankers lined Looe’s Millpool car park day and night last week as South West Water worked to rectify a burst sewer at Looe boat yard.

At one point 24 tankers were spotted by a local resident, all waiting to take sewage to the pumping works at Liskeard and Par.

The leak which started on October 8 has had a temporary fix with the installation of an overland pipe until a permanent solution can be found.

South West Water said: “We experienced a burst sewer at Looe boat yard on 8th October.

“Our teams worked hard to put in place mitigations to control the spill which significantly reduced flows and thankfully, the spill stopped completely at 16.55 on 9th October.”

The pollution alert was lifted by the Environment Agency at 15:49 on October 10.

One resident counted 24 tankers queued waiting to remove the sewage waste from the area at the height of the incident. (Photo credit: Peter Murnaghan)
One resident counted 24 tankers queued waiting to remove the sewage waste from the area at the height of the incident. (Photo credit: Peter Murnaghan) ( )

They continued: “We would like to thank local residents for their continued patience while we work to resolve this as quickly as we can.”

The latest update from South West Water says that works to repair the burst sewer in Looe are ongoing and a small amount of tankers are on hand as a backup to the overland pipe.

The annual Looe Island swim organised by the Looe Valley Rotary Club, in aid of the Chestnut Appeal, was a casualty of the works with the event called off due to concerns about water quality in the bay, as well as a 4ft swell that was forecast for the Sunday swim.

A spokesperson for the Chestnut Appeal, said: “The well-being of our swimmers is always our priority, which is why we have made this difficult decision.

“We understand how frustrating this is for those who were hoping to swim with us. Moving forward, all tickets for this year's swim will be transferred to the Looe Island swim 2025.”

During the ongoing repair work, swimmers were advised to avoid going in to the water at Looe and Seaton, with both bays impacted.

Looe Sea Swimmers chose to play it safe too and relocate their Saturday swimming to Talland Bay beach.

Cllr Jim Candy, Cornwall councillor for Looe West said: “The burst pipe was close to Bonemill Pumping Station, in Millpool, West Looe.

“South West Water reacted quickly to reduce the pollution by diverting the flow to a large storm overflow tank. They then had 18 articulated lorries to tanker wastewater to Par and Liskeard.

“These were stood down on Saturday afternoon when SW Water had installed a short length of temporary pipe to bypass the section which had burst; they are working on site to replace the burst section.

“I will be meeting with South West Water to discuss the resilience of their infrastructure.”