Dead fish found on River Thet where large stretch of white foam appeared | Norfolk

The Environment Agency has confirmed dead fish were found in a river in Norfolk where a large sheet of white foam appeared.

Images shared by the agency on Saturday showed foam covering an area of ​​the Thet River.

The Environment Agency said its officers “saw small dead fish and fry”. It was stated that the incident was investigated and that “the contaminant was an unknown substance.”

Specialist teams were sent to take samples from the river running through Thetford on Saturday in a bid to find the source of the pollution and prevent further discharge.

The source of the visible remaining foam was identified and further discharge was stopped.

Firefighters also attended and the Norfolk Fire Brigade warned people not to enter the water or allow their pets to swim or drink in the river.

Anglian Water confirmed that a “third party” was involved and that it was not “equipment or assets in the area”.

An Environment Agency spokesman said more foam could form but this would have “little environmental impact as it disperses”.

They said: “Environment Agency officers are continuing to investigate the cause of the large amount of foam found in the River Thet in central Thetford yesterday.

“Our expert teams collected samples, identified the possible source and prevented another leak. The investigation will continue to prevent this from happening again.

“It is possible that we may see a second foam cloud today and the foam will continue to move down the river. It will still be visible but will have little environmental impact as it dissipates.”

On Sunday, the agency said it would wait for the contaminant to be gone before assessing long-term effects.

Authorities added that their officers attended an incident involving foam in the River Thet on December 23, 2024, but were unable to identify the source in that incident.