Mystery As Scottish River Turns Orange Like Irn Bru

Residents of a Scottish town have captured footage from a river which was running with bright orange water, resembling Irn Bru:

Now locals have jokingly renamed Kinness Burn, which is located in St Andrews, Fife, to Irn Bru Burn following the discolouration.

Barbara Boyd posted videos and pictures on social media and someone wrote: "You spill your Irn Bru?"

Another simply added: "Bru Burn."

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) released a statement after a number of people called them to report the happenings.

SEPA wrote: "We'd like to thank members of the public for reporting the pollution incident in the Kinness Burn in St Andrews. We believe the discolouration may be associated with historic mine workings.

"Water from the mine workings contains naturally occurring metals, such as iron, from the mined rocks. When mine water flows into a river, the iron settles on the bed of the river, causing orange staining.

"We're working with the Coal Authority to investigate the source of the pollution."

So there you have it, it is a form of iron... just not the fizzy drink variety that we hoped for.

Facebook/Barbara Boyd

St Andrews resident Barbara said it is the first time she has seen anything like it, telling The Courier: "The water was running a real bright orange colour all the way along the burn at Lade Braes and looked very strange."

Last November, a man was pictured walking along a 'river' which was full to the brim with rubbish. The shocking snaps show what had accumulated in a river running through a Brazilian rainforest natural park.

The rubbish was spotted in the Sarapui River in Rio de Janeiro state, in south-eastern Brazil, on 6 November.

Newsflash

The unidentified man can be seen balancing on plastics, bottles, cans, pieces of wood and glass, and other discarded materials.

The forested area had been designated as a state park in 2013, partly to protect the region's water resources.

The Sarapui river flows for 36 kilometres (22 miles) through Rio de Janeiro state. It often overflows, due to soil impermeability and reduction of space for the water to flow, causing floods.

Topics: Community, UK, Scotland

Rebecca Shepherd

I'm Becky - a journalist at LADbible. I graduated with a First Class BA in Journalism before going on to cover criminal court cases, medical tribunals and breaking news for the national media - which inevitably and eventually became as glum as it sounds. Can often be found rocking a bag for life - which I made a 'thing' way before Rihanna. You can contact me at [email protected]

@RJShepherd94