A MAJOR clean up operation to ensure polluted mine water is clean of iron before it goes into the River Irwell is on schedule to finish next month.

The £300,000 scheme is being carried out at the former Deerplay Colliery, Deerplay Moor, above Weir, by Bolton firm A & E Yates on behalf of the Coal Authority.

Last March engineers sank a new bore hole into the hillside to reach the bottom of the mine workings which were leading to polluted water getting into the River Calder.

A pumping station was then dropped into the pit so that the affected water could be brought to the surface.

Now about 17 workers are on site to build sludge beds, treatment ponds and a reed bed which will remove the iron before the water is returned to the River Irwell.

It is a similar, but smaller, scheme to one carried out at the former Old Meadows Colliery further down Burnley Road which has dramatically improved the former orange River Irwell.

Coal Authority spokesman John Delaney said: "We are half-way through the physical construction works and we have dug out the ponds.

"We had to delay the works because of the foot and mouth crisis which prevented us getting access on to the moors. A decision has still to be taken as to whether the reed beds will be planted this season or whether it would be better to wait to the start of the next season."

The Environment Agency developed a priority list of for engineering works to treat mine water discharges from former colliery sites.

Old Meadows was one of the first and major projects and cost nearly £1million to construct.

Mr Delaney said: "We had to find the optimum place to put the water treatment works and then negotiate with the land owner to buy the land it will be based.

"We have had to dig out the hillside to put the beds in but once the work is finished the area will be landscaped and made to resemble how it looked before the work began."