FANCY taking a look at what lurks below the streets of Warrington?

The town’s murky side will feature on BBC Two next week as divers plunge into sewage in Watermen: A Dirty Business – the documentary about water company United Utilities.

In the fifth hour-long episode of the series on Tuesday at 9pm, divers work on broken valves at the bottom of a sewage tank at Warrington North Wastewater Treatment Works in Moore.

The tricky operation involved divers donning sealed contamination dive suits and double-valved helmets to work on their stomachs at the bottom of 20ft of sludge.

Engineer Martin Berry, who oversaw the work and features in the programme, said the work was vital to keep Warrington’s sewer system flowing.

He said: “We are quite used to carrying out diving inspections and maintenance, but this one had some real challenges.

"Unlike water, you can’t see through sludge, so these plucky individuals worked by touch and feel only.

"I haven’t seen the finished programme myself but I’m looking forward to it. I don’t think people realise all that goes into keeping our services going.”

Camera crews followed United Utilities’ water and wastewater staff across the North West for almost a year to create the six-part series.

In the same episode, other divers take on another challenging task – cutting the end off a pipe 60ft below Haweswater reservoir in Cumbria and sealing it with a piece of 150kg steel plate.