RESIDENTS look set to wait a little longer before they can return to using a village green which was closed because of a pollution issue from nearby properties.

Gates leading to Kell Gate Green in the Middlesbrough village of Stainton have been padlocked since last November after water from a beck was found to contain raw effluent and other pollutants which posed a significant risk to public health.

In January the Environment Agency said it could find no issues with the water after tests and it was thought that after meeting last month Stainton and Thornton Parish Council, which leases the land from the Pennyman estate, would give the go-ahead for the green to re-open.

But Councillor David Coupe, who represents Stainton on Middlesbrough Council and is also a member of the parish council, said the latter had decided to pay for further tests of its own.

This was because the Environment Agency was duty bound to only test for a small number of contaminants and it was decided to go a step further.

More water samples were taken on Wednesday from two locations in the beck and the results will be known next week.

It is hoped the green will be open before the summer.

Cllr Coupe said: “Members of the parish council are worried that it could drag us into legal things if anything else happens, a dog died or something like that.

“Before we open it up we have to make sure the results are okay.

“There is pressure from various people, but we are trying to get to a situation where we are happy.”

Councillor Coupe said the parish council had paid £200 for the tests.

He added that a meeting will be held once the results were known when hopefully a decision would be made to open up Kell Gate Green again.

The source of the pollution has been traced to nearby properties not connected to the mains drainage system and which use their own package treatment plants to filter water before it is discharged into the beck.

One of the properties has been vacant, but Cllr Coupe said a resident in the other had “done everything she can to alleviate the problem”.

He added: “I think it [the green] will re-open and personally I would re-open it now as I think it is perfectly safe.

“We are trying to make sure everything is sorted out before the summer.”