Update: Merseylink responded to our queries after the story was published and a day after they were aprpoached. Their response is at the bottom of the article.
A 'disgusting' pool of water slammed as a drowning risk has been blamed on the Mersey Gateway bridge.
Residents in The Calvers, The Brow, Runcorn , fear that a child could drown after what was previously a ditch with a "tiny stream" filled up and began flooding after major roadworks on the nearby Central Expressway as part of the £1.86bn infrastructure project.
Michelle Graham, 40, said her young family has been suffering from rat and insect infestations since the mystery pool of "stagnant" water appeared.
She now fears that children playing could crawl under the gap in the fence and fall in the water.
As a result, she and her husband have stopped their children playing in the garden, and despite the exterminators having been out, she said rats and insects remain a problem.
Colin Brown, 67, and wife Pamela Brown, 70, are also concerned over what they called the ‘disgusting’ and ‘stagnant’ pool, which they said has become a magnet for fly-tippers, with rubbish floating on the surface, and which Mr Brown said is about 16ft-20ft deep.
He now fears trees are dying as a result.
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Linda Middleton, 69, of The Copse, often visits her elderly parents and has noticed that the water is ‘getting higher and higher, adding that the fly-tipping is particularly bad after Christmas when packaging is thrown in.
Despite efforts to contact Halton Borough Council , the area’s main housing association Plus Dane and the Mersey Gateway, they said no-one will take responsibility for the ditch.
They are also sure that it was a result of the nearby Central Expressway roadworks, which underwent major transformation under the Mersey Gateway bridge project.
For years the ditch had been empty but since the works residents think something has been blocked, leading to the rising water level.
Cllr Ellen Cargill, Halton Castle ward, told the ECHO that the land is owned by Plus Dane housing and constituents had been in touch with her about the pool, mainly about the rubbish.
She added that she would call someone to tell them to do something about it.
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Residents are keen for action.
Mr Brown said: "We had no problems down there, the kids played down there and all of a sudden as they put the steel things in to hold back the soil, it flooded and no-one admits to owning it – the council, the people who own the estate.
"(It was) a tiny stream, the kids used to come in filthy and you didn’t mind.
"I didn’t because kids is kids.
"It’s a disgrace now.”
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He added: "We don’t really look down here.
"It was early last year and the wife said 'have a look at this' and it was way up.
"I said 'it’s them pylons, it can’t be anything else'."
Mrs Middleton said: "It's getting higher and higher.
"All the rubbish that gets thrown down, it all floats.
"There was a three-piece suite down there not long ago.
"I've only rung up about the rubbish, it gets really full."
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She added: "After Christmas it's horrendous, they drop the packaging from the toys."
Mrs Graham said: "Nobody wants to take any responsibility for getting it sorted out. We've got rats running round in the back garden.
"It stinks. When the water warms up, there’s big insects just rampant.
"I don’t let the children play out in the back garden.
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"We've had pest control out to put poison down but they've said there’s nothing they can do.
"It's been like that for about 18 months, two years, and it's gradually been filling up.
"There's lots of fly-tipping going on.
"It's filled to the brim with stagnant water."
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A spokeswoman for Plus Dane said the group would not comment on a watercourse matter but it might be an issue for British Waterways.
British Waterways, which in England is now the Canal & River Trust, said it is only responsible for navigable watercourses such as canals and rivers but that the Environment Agency might take an interest in a drainage issue.
The Mersey Gateway and Halton Council were contacted for comment on Thursday.
The Environment Agency, which was not one the organisations residents had complained to, has been contacted today and is now looking to find out more about the issue.
Update:
A Merseylink spokeswoman said: "This has been investigated by Merseylink and it is not related to Mersey Gateway Works. It was passed to Halton Borough Council and they provided the following response which was sent to residents who contacted us:
"'This isn’t really an environmental health matter – we only became involved originally because we were unsure of the nature of the problem – now it appears as though the problem relates to the flooding of land it is a matter for the land owner – who we understand to be the housing association.'"
