France’s ‘prettiest river’ polluted by huge… butter slick

The 62km-long River Odet in Brittany has been named the prettiest in France, its route taking in the region's chateaux and woodland as it flows serenely out to sea. 

It is a popular spot for boat trips, kayaking and fishing – but the Brittany river was attracting interest for all the wrong reasons this week, after an accident at a nearby dairy plant left it polluted with a large amount of butter.

Lumps of the dairy product floated downstream and collected at the Odet's banks – somewhat spoiling the scenic effect.

The Odet runs through Quimper, capital of the Finistère departement in northwestern France and also home to the Beuralia dairy plant, where an industrial accident took place between 9 and 11am.

Local paper Le Telegramme reported that “hundreds of kilos” of butter had found their way into the water.

By noon, the Beuralia dairy plant and firefighters were investigating the cause of the accident, and they had closed off a sluice gate which let water from the plant flow into the river.

Beuralia is the second-largest butter manufacturer in France and the Quimper factory is one of three across the region.