SEWAGE overflowed into the River Erme on Easter Saturday following a tank blockage.

The Gazette was tipped off about the incident by an Ivybridge resident who saw the sewage flowing into the river.

A spokesman from South West Water said: 'A blockage in one of the tanks at Ivybridge Treament Works on Saturday, April ,7 caused partially treated effluent to overflow.

'We immediately took action to divert this discharge into storage tanks at the site, and used tankers to take the sewage to another works for treatment. The site is now operating normally.

'We apologise to our customers for this unfortunate incident but reassure them there are no indications it had a significant impact on the river.'