The owner of a business pumping raw sewage onto a lake in West Yorkshire has defended himself after Yorkshire Water removed an “illegal and dangerous” fix.

A misconnected pipe from Casa Brighouse on Elland Road has caused misery to residents and users of two lakes since December last year, with the stench described as “horrendous.”

The pipe has been pouring sewage onto Freeman’s Cut, which is owned by the White Rose Water Ski Club.

The club has had to close down temporarily for safety issues caused by the pollution.

Yorkshire Water said the fix by Casa Brighouse was "illegal and dangerous"

But a spokesperson for the events venue, run by Jack McDaid, said they had tried to fix the problem by rediverting the pipe into a manhole, but had been curtailed by Yorkshire Water.

The spokesperson said: “It was agreed that Casa would clear the area around the defective pipe in the first instance to get to the source of the problem said works have now been carried out.

"A Yorkshire Water manhole was uncovered situated on the Ski Club land. It was agreed a new pipe would need to be laid to the manhole. We were informed by Yorkshire Water this would require a Section 106 Application form to be filled out with a fee of £490 for an adopted connection, a method statement and a drawing of the pipe run to be connected.

"All these requirements were met last week ending February 12.

"Regrettably, Yorkshire Water removed our temporary pipe, stating we are not allowed to fix the problem until our Section106 application is determined.”

But a spokesperson for Yorkshire Water hit back at claims the problem had been solved, saying the fix was illegal and dangerous and that Mr McDaid’s application was incomplete.

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Casa Brighouse: Owner's fix for raw sewage pumping into lake "illegal and dangerous" says Yorkshire Water