Fish 'edible' after sewage spill

A limited ban remains on harvesting from waters around the plant

The Food Standards Agency has lifted a ban on fish and shellfish being harvested from waters affected by a sewage spill in the Firth of Forth.

People had been warned not to eat any fish caught in the area after millions of litres of untreated waste escaped from Leith's Seafield plant last week.

A ban still remains on eating bivalves - mussels, scallops, and whelks - harvested from waters near Seafield.

Edinburgh City Council has said beaches around the affected area are also safe.

Waters in the Firth off West and East Lothian, Edinburgh and the southern Fife coast were affected by the spill last Friday.

People can now harvest fish and crustacea, such as crabs and lobsters, from the entire Firth of Forth FSAS

The Food Standards Agency Scotland (FSAS) said on Friday that tests showed fish and crustacea such as crabs and lobsters could now be caught and eaten from the area.

In a statement the organisation said the ongoing risk assessment indicated they did not present a food safety risk.

It said: "The agency continues to advise that shellfish - bivalve molluscs and gastropods such as scallops, mussels and whelks - should not be collected or eaten from FSAS's existing precautionary area."

Precautionary

The precautionary area is between Cramond in Edinburgh to Gullane Point in East Lothian.

Further tests are being carried out on the shellfish on this coastline before the all-clear is given.

The sewage spill happened last Friday afternoon after a pump taking raw effluent from Edinburgh homes to Seafield failed.

Engineers had to divert the sewage into sea until Monday morning, when temporary pumps were put in place.

Thames Water, which runs Seafield for Scottish Water, is carrying out an investigation into the failure.