Summer holiday warning as worst UK beaches for sewage dumping revealed
FAMILIES planning a holiday to the coast this summer might want to think again.
New research has revealed the popular beaches which saw the most sewage dumped into the ocean last year.
The study, conducted by the Liberal Democrats, used data from the Environment Agency to analyze which beaches saw the most sewage spills.
A whopping 1,504 sewage spills affected Blue Flag beaches in England last year, despite them being awarded the accolade for being safe and clean.
The worst affected was Blackpool Sands beach, the Guardian reports, which saw sewage discharges by Southern Water happen 65 times, lasting 1,014 hours.
Another Devon beach, Meadfoot beach had 79 sewage spills, lasting 946 hours, while Brighton Beach had 107 hours of sewage discharge, happening 45 times last year.
Last year, a similar study found sewage discharges had affected Blue Flag beaches in Wales 579 times, lasting a whopping 6,757 hours.
Liberal Democrat environment spokesperson Tim Farron called it an “absolute farce”.
Environment secretary Therese Coffey said the government would be looking at lifting the £250k cap on fines for water firms who release sewage into the water, as well as using the penalties to put money back into cleaning up the water systems.
Other changes she suggested included a ban on plastic in wet wipes, despite this first being announced back in 2018.
She said she took it “extremely seriously” and admitted things needed to change.
In 2021, Southern Water was fined a record £90 million for deliberately pumping 16 to 21 billion litres of sewage into the sea between 2010 and 2015.
Surfers Against Sewage, who monitor the water quality at over 400 locations around UK rivers and coastlines, also advised Brits against swimming on a number of beaches last month.
More than 70 beaches were on the list, after heavy rain caused sewage to leak into the sea.
It included Gorleston Beach, which was recently named the best beach in the country, as well as popular beaches such as Brighton, Blackpool, Whitby and Whitstable.
Anyone who swims in polluted water can fall ill if they digest the water, as well as suffer from skin infections.
And Brits have been told not to swim at a popular UK beach for the entire YEAR after fecal matter was found in the water, leading to unsafe levels of bacteria.