RESIDENTS are worried that a stream that has been turned orange by pollution is putting off tourists.

The stream, which flows through Saltburn Gill Nature Reserve, is known locally as 'red river'. There are concerns that its orange colour, caused by iron ore leaking from disused mines, will not impress visitors to Saltburn.

The colour is so vibrant that a student who carried out a study on the stream, which is orange for about a mile, discovered satellites could pick up the iron ore as it entered the beach at Saltburn.

Parish councillor Jim Wingham said: "The stream skirts a major car park used by tourists. When they see it they are not likely to come back.

"There used to be otters and kingfishers here. Now, although the water is not toxic, there's no oxygen or fish, so if they do come they don't stay."

He said a reed bed scheme to filter particles out of the water would cost £500,000.

The land where the stream flows is owned by Tees Valley Wildlife Trust. Chief executive Jeremy Garside said he would welcome a solution but it was not a simple matter of cleaning up the iron ore.

"The mechanisms suggested so far would destroy nationally important woodland so it doesn't really add up," he said.

"The ironstone that comes into the gill doesn't come from our land, it comes in further upstream. It's the old mining companies which should be held responsible. But they've long gone."

Redcar and Cleveland Borough councillor John Robinson said:"There is a fund for pollution caused by coal mines but nothing for pollution caused by iron stone mines. It's a big predicament."