Brandon resident raises concerns after spotting strange foam floating along Little Ouse River

Concerns have been raised by a resident after spotting a strange foam floating along a river in a Suffolk town.

Laurence Chorlton, from Brandon, spotted the strange foam when he was fishing nearby in Brandon Lock Lake.

He said there was no foam along the Little Ouse around midday on Thursday but it had appeared by 5pm.

"I thought it looked like lots of icebergs had come floating down the river,” Mr Chorlton said.

"It looked a bit like a scene straight out of Titanic. It had a soapy smell to it, like a detergent or something.

"I know you sometimes get sea foam at the beach and things, but this wasn't like that - it was pure white foam which stretched as far as I could see downstream.

"It definitely was not any natural phenomenon."

Mr Chorlton said he is concerned for the river's wildlife, including not only fish, but also wild fowl, kingfishers and even otters.

He said: "It can't be good for any of them. I really hope the Environment Agency can do something to sort it out."

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: “Following reports of pollution on the Little Ouse in Brandon, officers attended the site to investigate and try and locate the source, which is currently unknown.

“Fortunately, we have yet to identify any impacts to fish or the river ecology and the pollutant seems to be dispersing.”

“We would welcome information about this incident, and we encourage members of the public to continue reporting pollution incidents to us via our incident line 0800 80 70 60.”