Liquid sewage escaped into the dry bed of the River Aldbourne near Ramsbury at the weekend from a Thames Water pumping station.

It was exactly the same location at Whittonditch where sewage spilled into the river bed four years ago resulting in a hefty fine for Thames Water.

Edward Starr, who is river keeper for wealthy businessman and landowner Sir Martyn Arbib, who lives at Howe Mill, discovered the pollution and informed both Thames Water, which is responsible for drains and sewers, and the Environment Agency, which is the monitoring group for rivers and waterways.

Sir Martyn has a small herd of Belted Galloway cattle – which one villager described as his pride and joy – in the field at the side of the B4192 Aldbourne-Chilton Foliat road at Whittonditch into which the sewage poured on Saturday.

Sir Martyn made his money from fund management and is regarded locally and nationally as a benefactor. He was a major benefactor in the River and Rowing Museum in Henley, has a financial interest in Swindon Town FC.

He was knighted in 2003.

Mr Starr, who lives in Ramsbury, said: “I suspect the heavy rain we had on Saturday morning overloaded the pumps and blew the fuses.

“Without the pumps the pressure of the sewage built up until it erupted from a manhole in the field.

“There has not been any water in the Aldbourne for months and what you can now see is the sewage that formed a lagoon here on Sunday.”

Later on Sunday Thames Water repaired the pumps, but did nothing to clear away the sewage or put up temporary fencing to keep Sir Martyn’s cattle out of it.

A sizeable area of the field in which the cattle were grazing was left covered with sewage sludge. Liquid sewage could still be seen in the river bed on Monday with no apparent attempt to clean it up.

Thames Water spokeswoman Natalie Slater said: “Any pollution incident is deeply regrettable and we are working hard to try and minimise the impact of the sewage spill at Whittonditch.

“This was caused by a failure at a pumping station over the weekend, which has now been resolved.

“We are working with the Environment Agency to make sure the area is back to normal as soon as possible.”

The spokeswoman said there had been previous problems at this location caused by blocked sewer pipes but this was remedied in 2009.

A spokesman at the Environment Agency offices in Reading confirmed there had been a complaint about the sewage spilling into the Aldbourne River at the weekend and that it was being investigated.

He said: “Until we know the results of the investigation we will not know what action, if any, will be taken.”