High levels of "chemical cocktails" have been found in areas of rivers in Bury.

Water analysis by the Wildlife and Countryside Link and the Rivers Trust used Environment Agency data to find the number of chemical compounds present in water.

The substances discovered are polluting rivers and groundwater and in turn are poisoning wildlife.

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In the borough, dangerous chemicals were found in groundwater close to Cobbus Cottage in Bury, the River Roch at Blackford Bridge and the River Irwell at Radcliffe Bridge.

In all three of these sites, dangerous substances known as "forever chemicals" which do not break down naturally were found.

These chemicals are used in a huge range of products from electronics, firefighting foam and an array of industrial processes.

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The groundwater at Cobbus Cottage had three chemicals in its water, and the River Roch and River Irwell had one type of chemical at both sites.

An Environment Agency spokesperson said: “Since the 2000s, the government has increased monitoring and either banned or highly restricted a number of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, both domestically and internationally.

“We are working with government to assess the levels of PFAS occurring in the environment, their sources and potential risks to inform future policy and regulatory approaches.

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“Following steps in their Plan for Water to ban the use of PFAS in fire-fighting foams, the government will share details of further actions in the upcoming UK REACH Work Programmes and Chemicals Strategy later this year.

“Anyone who suspects pollution in waterways can call the Environment Agency’s incident hotline- 0800 807060.”

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