A CRUMBLING tunnel running underneath a golf course in Worcester could cost about £1 million to repair.

The culvert running beneath Perdiswell Golf Course has cracked, allowing contaminated water – a consequence of the site’s former use as a rubbish tip – to leak into Barbourne Brook.

Repairing and replacing the whole culvert across the course is likely to cost a seven-figure sum and as the problem is on city council land, it has sparked fears the work could wipe out its general reserve fund, which stands at about £1.1 million.

But chiefs are adamant that will not happen as they believe they will be able to attract external funding which should pay for most of the work.

It has raised the question of whether the city council is well-equipped to deal with an emergency.

Councillor Liz Smith, chairman of the city’s audit committee, said: “The auditors said our reserves are at about £1 million but I think there’s a certain amount of concern that we should perhaps be looking to keep them slightly higher than that because of the number of risks the council is facing.”

Coun Smith, a Liberal Democrat who represents Claines, said the damaged culvert had been an issue for the council, on and off, for many years and added she had known about it ever since she was first elected about 22 years ago.

“It’s quite a significant problem,” she said.

“The cost of repairing it will be great and while it’s an environmental problem it’s on city council land, so there’s a legal requirement to do something about it.”

Sections were fenced off to the public last year and in a letter sent out to residents in the summer Richard Hopkins, the city council’s project manager, confirmed the culvert was damaged before he explained a separate investigation previously undertaken by the Environment Agency showed contaminated water had entered Barbourne Brook.

“The source of contamination is waste in the former landfill which sits above the culvert,” he said.

“Liquid containing dissolved substances from the waste has entered the brook through cracks in the culvert.”

The investigation confirmed the contamination was unlikely to be of significant risk to human health.

Mr Hopkins said: “We are working with the Environment Agency to look for solutions to repair the culvert, improve water quality and address flood risk.”

A city council spokesman confirmed discussions are being held with various third parties to secure the funding required to undertake the work.

“Once the funding is in place, the Environment Agency will be working with council contractors to execute the work,” she said.