Investigations are being carried out in Inverness city centre after it emerged sewage has been spilling out onto a busy street – since the summer.
Environmental health staff and Scottish Water visited the Academy Street site yesterday, where they held talks with staff at a nearby restaurant to try to resolve the issue.
The unhygienic leak is running from a lane beside the Filling Station restaurant onto the busy thoroughfare, which is just minutes away from the city’s train station.
Last night, Highland Council said investigations were ongoing to establish the cause of the problem.
And the utility firm confirmed that it has known about the problem since last summer, advising the issue is with a private drain linked to the restaurant.
The council also admitted that there have been “occasions” of sewage being evident on the road surface.
City centre community leader Pat Hayden last night described the length of time it has taken to solve the issue “unacceptable” and a “health and safety” issue.
And city taxi drivers, who have a rank which sits next to the lane, also hit out – with a trade leader branding the situation a “health hazard”.
Mrs Hayden, chairwoman of Crown and City Centre Community Council, said: “If there’s a problem like that then that needs to be sorted straight away.
“I think it’s completely unacceptable, it becomes a health and safety issue in many ways.”
City centre councillor Bet McAllister was unaware of the issue until late last week.
She said: “There is a problem in the lane next to the hotel and the restaurant. It is obviously an issue and something that we don’t want happening.
“It needs to be dealt with as quickly as possible and the council and Scottish Water are working on it, while neither are directly responsible.”
Inverness Taxi Alliance chairman Andrew MacDonald said: “The sewage is coming out at times over the pavement where people are walking past.
“It’s an ongoing issue, it’s clearly a health hazard and it needs to be sorted.
“It’s totally in the hands of Scottish Water and the council.”
A Highland Council spokeswoman said: “The council’s environmental health officers met with representatives from Scottish Water and the Filling Station.
“Investigations are still on going to establish the cause of the problem. Until such time as further information becomes available, environmental health will continue to work with all relevant parties to secure a satisfactory solution.”
A spokeswoman for Scottish Water added: “Scottish Water is continuing to liaise with the restaurant and Highland Council about the issue of blockages and spills at a private drain, which is not part of our network, and will do everything we can to help the restaurant resolve this matter.
“We have checked our sewer network in the area several times, since the issue was reported to us last summer, and have confirmed that our network was clear and was not the cause of the blockages and spills.
“The cause was a kitchen drain being connected to surface water drains at the side of the restaurant.”
Leanne Folley, assistant manager at The Filling Station, described the situation as “terrible, not nice at all”.
She added that the sewage problem was not the restaurant’s responsibility and offered assurances that it was having no effect on customers.