THE Environment Agency has launched an investigation after a sewer burst near Windermere. 

Photographs were taken by residents of an apparent leak into Windermere on Sunday, February 25 in Jenkins Field.

Matt Staniek, the founder of the Save Windermere Campaign which wants to stop sewage pollution in England's largest lake, shared a photo on social media. 

He later called it 'a significant pollution incident.' 

The agency received reports from the residents of the leak, which they said allowed them to act quickly. 

United Utilities also said it had self reported the leak to the agency. A drinking water pipe had also burst in the area, but the water company said that the two incidents were not related. 

The agency said that it had gathered evidence during the burst. 

An Environment Agency spokesman said: “On Sunday 25 February we received a report of potential sewage pollution at Jenkins Park, Windermere from a concerned member of the public.

“Thanks to this report we were able to respond quickly. Environment Agency officers attended the site to assess any initial environmental impacts.

“The discharge of sewage was stopped at around 8.30pm. In responding, United Utilities worked to prevent any further pollution and to carry out repairs to their infrastructure.

“A full clean-up took place the following day and Environment Agency officers continued to monitor the situation, staying on site to minimise any further impacts to the environment, and to gather evidence.”

“Occasionally pipes burst and our teams always respond quickly to assess what has happened and carry out repairs," a United Utilities spokesperson said. 

“We will always notify customers if it will have any impact on the service they receive, particularly any loss of water supply. On this occasion there were two separate issues.

“We notified customers about a burst water pipe which temporarily affected water supplies. 

“We also attended and repaired a burst on a sewer which we notified the Environment Agency about as a matter of course.

“We did not notify customers as there was no effect on wastewater service provision.”