Wildlife in a Bradford conservation area could be put at risk by a nearby housing development, according to worried residents.

They claim a storm drain being built in Thorpe Edge could kill off fresh water life in nearby Haigh Beck, which has been transformed from an unofficial tip to a haven for birds and animals.

Grahame Beacher, secretary of the Friends of Haigh Beck, said the drain will carry polluted surface water from roads around the new houses being built on Haigh Beck View.

"Residents have spent years clearing the beck, planting trees and shrubs and restoring it to the condition it's in now," he said.

"The water which will go into it will come off the roads, with traces of petrol and diesel, tyre rubber and whatever other chemicals are on the surface.

"It will have a serious effect on the beck - it has the potential to ruin the environment, which is as natural as it can be on a man-managed estate."

Peter Hatherall, chairman of the estate's High Rise Tenants' Association, said: "We didn't know there was going to be a storm drain into the beck until I saw them starting work and asked.

"Haigh Beck has been made into a conservation area by the residents, who have put a lot of hard work into it for several years.

"There has been a lot of planning to bring wildlife back and if they are going to start pouring water into the beck off the roads they are going to start polluting it again."

Liberal Democrat ward councillor Ann Ozolins, a former chairman of the Friends of Haigh Beck, said: "I am really, really angry.

"No-one has informed us about the drain before work started.

"The beck even contains fresh water shrimps, which are a sign that the water is really clean.

"All the chemicals which will wash into the beck will kill the creatures that the local school children have been logging."

The developers, Haslam Homes, said the drainage scheme had been approved by Yorkshire Water.

A Yorkshire Water spokesman said: "We have no control over where the water outfall is - it's the responsibility of the Environment Agency and in this case Bradford Council was acting as the Agency's agents."

A Bradford Council spokesman said plans for the drain were approved last year and no objection was raised by the Thorpe Edge Community Forum.

"We appreciate the concerns raised by Friends of Haigh Beck but there is no evidence to suggest the water which will be discharged from the site will be harmful to the local environment," she said.

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