Plan to drain lethal quarry in Wigan submitted

The idea has been supported by an Appley Bridge business which has spoken of the chaos being caused in the recent hot weather by residents defying lockdown and social distancing regulations to visit.

And the quarry also has a tragic history with a number of lives being lost.

The Environment Agency said it is not able to proceed to a decision yet on removing water but said issues of people gaining access to the quarry were matters for the police.

A spokesperson said: “The Environment Agency received an application to remove water from the quarry in Appley Bridge.

“We have contacted the applicant and we are waiting for further information to support this application before it can be progressed.

“If members of the public are concerned about trespass and public safety issues they should contact the police.”

Northern Diver, which has its headquarters nearby, has spoken out in favour of the draining proposal.

A spokesperson for the firm, which manufactures diving equipment and accessories, said: “It has been particularly bad over the past few weeks. Some days there have been hundreds of people congregating there, not social distancing in any way at all.

“I’ve seen adults with cool boxes coming in their cars and bringing kids with them.

“Police have had to be here all afternoon some days. On one occasion they parked a vehicle on Appley Lane North to try to deter people coming down from the train station.

“It’s hugely disruptive for us as a business. We’re trying to work with all this going on. But it’s more of a health and safety issue. People are diving into the cold water and they don’t know what they are doing.

“It would be a good idea to get the quarry pumped out and it would be good to see some progress on it. It would only take a few weeks and it could be done before the summer holidays.”

Police fined a number of people for breaching Covid-19 regulations when dispersing groups from the quarry in April, saying many of them had travelled to the spot from as far afield as Merseyside and Southport.

There have also been a number of tragic incidents involving young people at East Quarry over the years.

In 2015 13-year-old Marsh Green schoolboy Miracle Godson died there after getting into difficulties in the water.

And in 1999 17-year-old Craig Croston drowned while swimming in the quarry.