Polluted river is given all clear

About 1,000 fish died after the chemical spill

The water quality in a river polluted by a three-tonne chemical spill has returned to normal, the Environment Agency has said.

Aluminium sulphate leaked into the Taf Fechan from the Welsh Water Pontsticill treatment works at Merthyr Tydfil, south Wales, on Sunday.

Investigations are continuing into the cause of the incident, which has killed about 1,000 fish.

Local anglers have spoken of their "devastation" at the pollution.

They said five years' of work creating a wild fishery for trout and minnows on the river had been ruined.

The spill affected a 5km (3.1 miles) stretch of the river turning it a "milky white", but the Environment Agency said that readings taken on Monday indicated the chemicals had dispersed.

The fish stock has been totally wiped out up there John Coomes Merthyr Tydfil Angling Association

The agency's John Harrison said: "We will be working closely with Merthyr Tydfil Angling Association and Dwr Cymru to ensure a recovery plan for the river is in place as soon as possible.

"The support provided by the anglers in responding to this incident has been outstanding and we appreciate the commitment they have made to improving the habitat over the years."

The agency is advising the public not to take or eat any dead fish they may see in the Taf Fechan.

But Welsh Water said the drinking water supply was not at risk from the incident.

John Coomes, from the angling association, said although the water quality had returned to normal, he believed significant "long term damage" had been caused.

Anglers have spent five years creating a wild fishery

"The fish stock has been totally wiped out up there... What we have to do now is sit down and thing how we are going to repopulate it," he said.

He said fish could possibly taken from upstream of the leak to repopulate the stretch of river - which has only recently recovered from a chlorine leak five years ago.

"It was getting to the state where we were getting people from abroad coming to fish here, so it's not just an ecological disaster, it's a tourism disaster as well," he added.

Welsh Water has apologised for the leak from a storage tank at its treatment works.