THE River Avon has turned a cloudy shade of green but the Environment Agency said it is "perfectly natural".

Keen-eyed pedestrians spotted the discoloured water, which runs from Avon Approach to the Maltings, and questioned what could be causing it.

Today, March 7, the Environment Agency, which is responsible for the River Park Project, has told the Journal it's "not a cause for concern".

An Environment Agency spokesperson said: “Any chalk stream such as this goes cloudy when either there has been recent rainfall, or due to sediment being disturbed. This colour is perfectly natural and is not a cause for concern."

The change comes after straw beds were installed at Avon Approach.

Salisbury Journal: Straw beds in River Avon.Straw beds in River Avon. (Image: Salisbury Journal)

The spokesperson added: "Due to the limited water being allowed through this channel at present this clouding appears worse as there isn’t the flow to dilute it. As soon as any additional flow joins this channel (which happens approximately 100m downstream) the flow becomes clear again.

"We have monitors in the channel to measure the water quality to ensure there is no unacceptable changes downstream, and staff are also visually monitoring this area during the works. Measures are in place to minimise the sediment that can pass downstream and we have monitors in the channel to measure the water quality to ensure there is no unacceptable changes.”