A MAJOR operation continues to clear up a massive sewage spill on the banks of the Clyde.

Contractors were today expected to remove solid waste sludge from wasteland next to a giant Tesco store in Rutherglen.

They spent much of yesterday pumping liquid from the site, which was badly affected after a major pipeline burst last week

The sewage flowed on to the site after the rupture, causing a smell so bad the 24-hour superstore had to close and passing motorists were reduced to tears.

A spokesman for Scottish Water said: "We will start removing solid material from the site using an excavator on Thursday.

"When all material has been removed we will clean the affected area.

"Our work is taking longer than we had originally anticipated because of the size of the affected area, but we are working as quickly as we can.

"The waste water has not affected any land other than the vacant land we are working on.

"The waste water was contained there, due to the lie of the land and natural undulations, and there was no risk of it spilling into an adjacent car park or the river."

Sewage leaked for four hours before anybody noticed. The site is close to the Daldowie Sludge Treatment Centre in Dalmarnock.

By the time engineers arrived on the scene it had seeped on to an access road to the Tesco car park, next to the Daldowie Sludge Treatment Centre.

At the height of the incident the two-lane access road was partially closed until clean-up operations were carried out by Scottish Water workmen.

Scottish Water put deodorising equipment near the scene while specialist contractors Enviro-Clean removed the waste.

The incident comes just nine months after Scottish Water spent £1.5million to tackle a persistent pong which had plagued the East End for years.

The money was used to clean up a waste water treatment site in Dalmarnock, close to the Emirates Arena and Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, which will both feature in the Commonwealth Games.