Andy Skelton, head of environmental services at Scarborough Council, said heavy overnight rain helped dilute the paint and neither fish nor wildlife seemed to have been affected.

He said: "A member of the public reported the incident to us saying they thought sewage had leaked into the pond.

"Members of the council's environmental services department accompanied officers from Yorkshire Water to investigate the claims.

"There appeared to be a bluish tinge to the water caused by a leak from a drainage pipe which runs underneath the pond.

"We think someone may have poured paint down a surface water drain, but it wasn't possible to track down the exact source of the leak.

"Luckily, with the heavy rainfall, it had been flushed through quite quickly."

Mr Skelton said advice about the proper disposal of any kind of waste could be found by visiting the council's website at www.scarborough. gov.uk and clicking on the environmental services link on the left-hand side of the page.

Information can also be found at the Customer First office in St Nicholas Street.

Mr Skelton said: "Pouring any kind of chemical into the water course can have serious consequences for wildlife. Basically there are two types of drain, those which carry sewage and those which carry away rain water.

"We suspect that in this case someone has poured the substance into a gully and it found its way into the pond.

"People who get rid of chemicals in this way face very heavy penalties and we do have the ability to trace chemicals back through the system and tracing where they come from."

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