The managing director of a Lowestoft company has apologised for spilling 100kg of ink which turned a waterway bright blue.

Paul King, of Saxon Packaging, said it was as much a surprise to him as it was to the public that the ink transformed the water in Kirkley Drain and Kirley Fen following a spillage at the Harvest Drive site on November 10.

He said: “We were moving the ink off the truck when there was a spillage in the road outside. We put some bollards round it to stop it spreading and immediately called Waveney District Council. We are a very responsible company and we acted in a responsible way to get the ink cleared up. It was an accident.

But as far as I was concerned it had just gone in the road. It was a surprise when we were descended upon by the Environment Agency and Anglian Water saying the public had seen the ink in a stream.”