Charity duck race cancelled over river pollution

A charity duck race has been cancelled after concerns were raised about sewage pollution in the river.

The annual event was due to take place on Sunday on the River Tutt in Boroughbridge, North Yorkshire.

Yorkshire Water confirmed it had been carrying out investigations in nearby homes, prompting organisers to call off the event and offer discounts to those who had pre-purchased rubber ducks.

Simon Wade, owns pubs in the area and runs the event, said it was "disheartening because it's not something in this day and age you'd expect to be an obstacle for you".

Staff at pubs in the area had clubbed together with the Boroughbridge Lions Club to revive the town's duck race.

The new event, which also included a fun day, took place in the River Ure for the first time in 2019, before taking a break in 2020 during the pandemic.

The following year it was cancelled because of the height of the river water.

"There was a deluge and the rapids were too fast," Wade said.

"It wasn't actually going to be safe to do the actual event and we probably would have lost the ducks."

Since then, he said, the event moved to the River Tutt and generally raised between £2,000 and £3,000 for local charities, "a good chunk of money for a community buying ducks then standing over the bridge to watch them do the job".

After writing to residents two weeks ago, Wade said, he received a response from one neighbour warning about a "problem with sewage contamination".

Staff from Yorkshire Water had been "putting dye down the toilet system" as part of an investigation.

A spokesperson for the company confirmed that it was supporting an investigation "following reports from the Environment Agency about a pollution in the River Tutt".

They had found it was a "potential private misconnection", meaning the pollution was coming from a private property and not the Yorkshire Water network.

Once the source is identified, it will be the responsibility of the property owner to organise the repair.

But this weekend, there is a "predicament where there's raw sewage in that waterway", Wade said.

"We can't risk people's health."

Even though other elements of the fun day would still happen on Sunday, "everyone's disappointed", he said.

"Once the duck race is finished, people then move on and go out into the bars and restaurants and spend the weekend having a nice time.

"It's a focal point and it's one of those things that's generational."

He added that the team would "find a way" to stage a similar event later in the year.

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