Harpur Hill’s ‘Blue Lagoon’ to be dyed black and roads coned-off ahead of weekend

The council is dying Harpur Hill’s ‘Blue Lagoon’ black again in a bid to stop visitors flocking to the village for a day out beside the toxic lake.
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The move comes after over 2,000 people descended on the disused Hoffman Quarry site last weekend.

Yesterday (Thursday) Police and the fire service met with High Peak MP Robert Largan and High Peak councillors to find a way of controlling the flood of people attracted by the lake’s turquoise water.

Police plan to send more officers to the struggling village this weekend - where one resident described Monday’s scenes as ‘horrendous’.

Black dye in the lake to deter visitorsBlack dye in the lake to deter visitors
Black dye in the lake to deter visitors

A video shot on Monday showed cars double-parked throughout the village as visitors walked along the road.

As part of new measures to help locals roadside parking will be coned-off by police.

MP Robert Largan has also written to Tripadviser - asking the website to remove the ‘Blue Lagoon’ from things to do in Buxton list.

Harpur Hill councillor Linda Grooby said councillors, police and the fire service were ‘looking at every possibility’ however she added more detail would be given at a later date.

Photo by Leah PlantPhoto by Leah Plant
Photo by Leah Plant

She said: “It’s recognised by everyone involved how serious this is.”

Many are demanding that the private owner of the quarry do more to prevent people gaining access - though no mention was made of this after the meeting.

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High Peak MP Robert Largan said ‘other longer term solutions are still being discussed and investigated’.

Robert added: “Local residents are understandably very frustrated.

“This was a useful multi-agency and cross-party meeting to try and find a solution to this long-running problem.

“I’ll continue to work closely with the council and Derbyshire Police on this issue.

“But my main message is for people to stay away from this dangerous disused and toxic quarry and to respect the residents of Harpur Hill.”

Photographs taken on Monday showed large groups of young people and families gathered on tracks and grassland surrounding the water - with some seen smoking cannabis and taking other drugs.

While a shocking video posted on Twitter by Wayne Dilworth showed one young person performing a backward flip into the water which is said to have dangerously-high PH levels - similar to bleach.

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