Black sludge pours from drain on Auckland's Browns Bay beach

The sludge may have been caused by someone attempting to unblock a drain. Photo / Supplied

Black sludge flowing to the ocean from a stormwater outlet at Browns Bay has caused members of the community to panic.

Kushla Rolls, who lives near the beach, spotted the pollution gushing across the sand yesterday, and told Fairfax she called the council about the black liquid "emergency".

The council took almost an hour to get to the scene, during which time Rolls tried to stop the sludge spreading.

"I said 'What took so long to get here? What were you doing that was more important than an environmental emergency like this?'" Rolls asked.

The council worker wasn't well equipped and didn't have shovels.

The sludge may have been caused by someone attempting to unblock a drain. Photo / Supplied

Rolls, who also called the police, said locals cleaned up the mess.

Auckland Council's compliance manager for resource consents, Steve Pearce, said investigations into the spill continue, but it may have been caused by someone trying to unblock a drain.

"[The] compliance unit attended and cleaned-up discharge on Browns Bay beach yesterday morning, coming from a stormwater outlet," Pearce said.

"This is a good reminder for people to ensure contaminants, like oils and fats, are properly disposed of, rather than being washed into the stormwater network, and ending up on our beaches."

Anyone seeing pollution should call the Pollution Hotline on (09) 377 3107.