Dog walkers warned to avoid 83 UK beaches due to raw sewage
Dog walkers are being warned to avoid 83 UK beaches after raw sewage, which can cause serious illness, was discharged.
Environmental charity Surfers Against Sewage, which monitors sewage discharge, has detected leaks into the sea around the UK after heavy recent rainfall.
The affected beaches are: Amble Links, Bembridge, Bexhill, Bispham, Blackpool Central, Blackpool North, Blackpool South, Blyth South Beach, Bognor Regis East, Bognor Regis (Aldwick), Bridlington South Beach, Brighton Kemptown, Brighton Central, Cleveleys, Colwell Bay, Cowes, Dhoon Bay, Druridge Bay North, Druridge Bay South, Dunster North West, Eastney, Fleetwood, Gorleston Beach, Gurnard, Heacham, Herne Bay, Herne Bay Central, Hillhead, Hove Lawn, Hythe, Langstone Harbour, Lee-on-Solent, Leysdown, Littlehampton, Marske Sands, Minster Leas, Morecambe North, Normans Bay, Pagham, Ryde, Pentewan, Pevensey Bay, Redcar Coatham, Redcar Granville, Redcar Stray, Saltburn, Saltdean, Sandown, Sandgate, Scarborough North Bay, Scarborough South Bay, Seaford, Seagrove, Seaham Beach, Seaham Hall Beach, Seaton Carew North, Shanklin, Sheerness Canterbury, Southend Three Shells, Southend Jubilee Beach, Southport, Southsea East, Spittal, St Annes, St Annes North, St Helens, St Leonards, St Marys Bay (Kent), Stokes Bay, Tankerton, Totland Bay, Tynemouth Cullercoats, Walney Biggar Bank, Walney Sandy Gap, Walney West Shore, Warkworth, West Beach, Weston Main, Weston-super-Mare Sand Bay, Wharfe at Cromwheel – Ilkley Bathing Water, Whitby, Whitecliff Bay, Whitstable, Yaverland.
Izzy Ross, Campaigns Manager for Surfers Against Sewage, told The Independent: “We wish it was surprising to see the mammoth spike in sewage pollution alerts when it rains. We know all too well that the current sewage infrastructure can’t cope with rainfall after decades of underinvestment. It will continue as long as profiteering water companies, lax regulators and a blundering government let it happen.”
She added: “To make informed decisions about when and where you use the water, use our Safer Seas and Rivers Service app to get live alerts on sewage pollution incidents.”
An Environment Agency spokesperson told The Independent: “Storm overflows are a necessary part of the current sewerage network. They act as relief valves which prevent the system from overloading during high rainfall which would otherwise result in sewage flooding homes, roads and open spaces.
“We are holding the water industry to account on a scale never seen before – securing record fines of over £142m since 2015 against water companies, launching a major criminal investigation into potential non-compliance at wastewater treatment works, and driving up monitoring and transparency to ensure the public can see what is going on. We will always seek to hold those responsible for environmental harm to account.”
