WORK has started on a £4.6 million project to reduce storm overflow discharges into a Keighley watercourse.

The Yorkshire Water scheme will see an underground storage tank constructed next to the overflow car park at East Riddlesden Hall.

Measuring 10 metres deep and 12.5m in diameter, the tank will be capable of holding 793,000 litres of wastewater.

The aim is to reduce discharges from a storm overflow in Bradford Road into the watercourse, a tributary of the River Aire, by as much as 85 per cent.

Lumi Ajayi, project manager at Yorkshire Water, says: "We are committed to reducing storm overflow discharges across the region, and the Bradford Road project is part of a wider £180 million programme.

"The tank will hold excess wastewater flows that come through the sewer network during heavy or prolonged rainfall. It will then pump the stored water back into the network for full treatment once the rainfall event has passed.

"Looking forward, we are planning our largest ever environmental investment between 2025 and 2030, which includes £1bn to further reduce the impact of overflows on our watercourses."

The Keighley project, being carried out by Sapphire Utilities, is expected to be completed early next year.