83 UK beaches swimmers and surfers are warned to avoid because of sewage

Some 83 beaches in the UK have been added to a list that swimmers and surfers should avoid because of sewage discharge in the water.

Marine conservation charity Surfers Against Sewage has issued new alerts on what water spots risk exposing people to pollution.

After bouts of heavy rainfall for much of the country, the number is disturbingly close to 100.

One of the beaches is Gorleston Beach, in Norfolk, just south of Great Yarmouth, which TripAdvisor listed as the ‘best beach in the country’ just last month.

Surfers Against Sewage wrote: ‘A large, 3km stretch of sand backed by a promenade, gardens and the town with timber groynes found along its length. 

‘Gorleston-on-Sea became popular in Edwardian times and is still a busy seaside resort.

‘A number of sewer overflows discharge into the River Yare that flows to the sea at the northern end of the beach.’

Other favourites that been cautioned against as well include Brighton, Blackpool, Scarborough and Whitby.

The UK’s water bathing quality is ranked among some of the lowest in Europe because of sewage and agricultural pollution.

An angling coach from Yorkshire, named only as Andy, is horrified at the pollution he sees all over England’s waterways.

He said: ‘The riverbanks and edges of streams are littered with thousands of wet wipes, sanitary towels, and other nasties like syringes and needles from storm drains flowing into the water even in times of low rainfall.

‘There is visible raw sewage, faecal matter and toilet paper around the riverbanks everywhere.

‘Downstream from the local sewage works, there is visible sewage froth and scum on the surface of the water.’

Last August, it emerged that British water companies had spent 9,427,355 hours pumping raw sewage into waterways since 2016.

The Environment Agency data, revealed through Freedom of Information requests, showed that many companies had not been monitoring the amount of sewage they had released into the sea and rivers.

Just last week, a historic agreement to protect the world’s oceans was signed at the UN after 10 years of talks between 200 countries.

The High Seas Treaty, hailed by Greenpeace as the ‘biggest conservation victory ever’, grants protected status to 30% of international waters by 2030 compared with 1.2% now.

It will help marine life by controlling damaging deep-sea mining and exploration, as well as fishing and shipping.

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