Urgent warning not to swim at popular beauty spot beach as SEWAGE pours directly into the sea
AN URGENT warning not to swim at a popular beauty spot beach has been issued.
Untreated sewage has been seen darkening the sea after a storm overflow was released during heavy downpour.
Those at Scarborough South Bay in Yorkshire have been warned not to swim in the sea.
Pictures of the coastline show a large semicircle of untreated sewage spreading across the water.
The latest release is thought to have happened at 5am on Monday.
A Yorkshire Water spokesman blamed “prolonged heavy rainfall” for the leak.
They said: “Prolonged heavy rainfall on Sunday evening and throughout Monday, which caused localised flooding in Scarborough, did lead to permitted discharges from storm overflows.
“These operate to prevent wastewater backing up into homes and businesses.
“Storage built into our network operates to hold back wastewater for as long as possible to reduce the frequency and duration of these discharges and limit their impact on water quality.
“Tackling storm overflows is a priority for us and we are bringing forward investment from 2025-2030 to improve the operation of Wheatcroft overflow at Scarborough, under Ofwat’s accelerated infrastructure delivery project.
“We are also working closely with North Yorkshire County Council to identify further opportunities to bring forward investment as quickly as possible to achieve the government targets of two spills per bathing season, ahead of the 2035 deadline, by aligning plans across the region to minimise local disruption and maximise opportunities for collaborative working.”
Locals have been left fuming.
Gill Nicholson said: “Why are they still allowed to get away with this?”
Marion Rooke added: “If I dumped my motor home toilet on the beach I would be hung, drawn and quartered – so why not Yorkshire Water?”
Janis Bacon said: “The Government just doesn’t care about us, our wellbeing or our livelihoods.”
The Environment Agency Swimfo page about Scarborough South Bay said yesterday: “The most recent classification is poor, based on samples taken from 2018 to 2022.”
In 2022 Yorkshire Water made 54,273 discharges. There were 70,062 in 2021 and 22,821 in 2019.
Labour councillor Eric Broadbent said: “Hopefully there’ll be a solution to this. It’s obviously concerning for everyone in the area, but I’m hopeful things have to improve.”
Sun Online has contacted Yorkshire Water for comment.
It comes after a watchdog claimed ministers “broke the law” by failing to stop water chiefs dumping sewage in rivers.
An urgent health warning was issued to 54 beaches across the UK this summer.