30 July 2023 , 23:01
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Nearly one in four sea swimmers say they will stay out of British seaside waters this summer due to filthy sewage discharge.
It comes after data earlier this year showed water companies had spilled sewage into Blue Flag beaches a staggering 1,504 times in 2022.
According to the poll by Savanta for the Liberal Democrats, just over 30% of adults said they go swimming in the sea over the summer months, and of these 23% will now avoid it due to the pollution from water companies.
The data also shows 43% of beach goers say they are now less likely to visit the British seaside in the coming weeks. Treated sewage is regularly discharged from the system into waterways - but there are also overflows of untreated waste and storm water into rivers.
The Government has said it will allow the Environment Agency to impose unlimited fines on water companies that pollute unnecessarily (Greg Martin / Cornwall Live)Liberal Democrat Environment spokesman Tim Farron said: "Sewage dumping by water companies is ruining the British beach holiday.
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"Coastal communities are at the mercy of water companies who unapologetically discharge raw sewage into popular swimming sports. "If this continues, tourists will turn away from British beach holidays, leaving small businesses and local tourism to suffer from their mess".
He added: "No-one should have to go for a swim or build a sandcastle next to raw sewage. This Conservative government needs to stop letting water companies off the hook and finally ban these disgusting sewage discharges and defend our tourism sector."
The Government has recently said it will allow the Environment Agency to impose unlimited fines on water companies that pollute unnecessarily. Current penalties are capped at £250,000, making it cheaper to pay than to fix the pollution issue, Environment Secretary Therese Coffey told MPs earlier this month.
A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: "Banning discharges overnight without a plan to fix storm overflows is reckless and would see sewage backing up into people's homes and the street.
"The Secretary of State demanded action plans on every storm overflow in the country and our storm overflow discharge reduction plan requires water companies to spend £56billion to eliminate the harm from storm overflows - the largest infrastructure investment in water company history".
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