A spate of vandalism at a wastewater treatment works in the Co Down village of Annsborough could lead to a major environmental incident, NI Water has warned.

Over the last 12 months there have been no less than 24 separate incidents at the works, which treats raw sewage from approximately 2,100 properties in the Castlewellan and Annsborough areas.

The attacks, the most recent of which occurred on Sunday January 13, have seen control panels, computers and various other equipment on the site being targeted. The fear is that damage to equipment poses a real threat to the treatment processes being undertaken at the site and could potentially lead to a major pollution incident affecting local watercourses.

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Alec McQuillan, Head of Wastewater at NI Water, explained: "These incidents have been going on for about a year and have resulted in considerable expense and disruption. Almost £100,000 has been spent repairing damaged equipment, introducing increased security and installing new equipment at the site.

"That expense creates a drain on limited resources, and means that other priority improvements to our services cannot be delivered. However, what worries us more is the potential for a major pollution incident to occur as a result of the damage being caused.

"This area has a well-deserved reputation for the beauty of the waterways and coastline and we, as a company, view the protection of that environment as a major priority. It is for this reason that we are particularly concerned about the potential that these attacks have to cause a significant incident.

"We have been working closely with the PSNI and have increased our own staffing levels at the site in an effort to apprehend those responsible, but so far without success."

(CD)