A Leeds man has reacted in disgust and shock after seeing the River Aire flooded with raw sewage.
Shane Moody was left horrified when he spotted faeces, human hair, condoms and tampons floating in the river while he was fishing with a friend.
The 25-year-old said the water slowly started to turn "murky and brown" with "things coming into the river" at around 5pm on June 18.
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"Suddenly we saw human poo floating down, wipes, balls of hair, tampons, wet wipes, sanitary pads," he said.
"It was an awful smell."
Shane, who regularly goes fishing at the spot behind the train station, said this is the first time he has seen this happen.
"I go fishing there a lot," he said.
"I've never witnessed anything like it before, I've heard of it happening but I've never seen it first-hand. It was quite of a shock to see. It was pretty disgusting."
He said while this might deter wild swimmers from jumping into the river, he is concerned for the wildlife.
The River Aire is a popular among anglers in Leeds, Keighley and Bradford and is home to a range of different fish and insects.
The raw sewage in the river has been reported to the Environment Agency.
A spokesperson from Yorkshire Water said: "We are aware of reports of debris emerging from the City Square tunnel on the River Aire in Leeds.
"We believe this a combination of general public waste and sewer storm debris which has exited the tunnel because of increased flows during the period of rain last night.
"Our teams have attended on-site and we are supporting the Environment Agency to investigate and clean up the area as quickly as possible.”
An Environment Agency spokesperson said: “We responded to a report of sewage pollution in the River Aire, Leeds City Centre on Friday 18 June.
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"On attending the site, no signs of sewage debris were observed, this is most likely due to the fast flowing nature of the river after rainfall.
“The sewage debris is likely to be a consequence of a storm overflow discharge following recent rainfall.
“We have requested Yorkshire Water to carry out further investigations of the discharge.
“Anyone who spots pollution should report it to us via our 24-hour Freephone emergency hotline number on 0800 807060”
Leeds City Council has been approached for comment.
