Bexhill and Normans Bay, East Sussex, shut after water company pumps untreated sewage into the sea

Beaches in East Sussex have been shut down after untreated sewage was pumped into the sea by water firms.

Beaches in Bexhill and Normans Bay were shut down after Southern Water experienced a ‘significant’ electrical issue at a pumping station in Galley Hill which led to the untreated wastewater gushing into the sea.

People have been told not to go into the sea until further notice.

The water, which included raw sewage, was released when the primary power and the back-up system at the station failed on Wednesday.

Nearby Hastings Borough Council also warned people not to swim at Pelham Beach due to the pollution risk.

Swimmers in East Sussex have hit out demanding that water firm bosses are held to account.

Juliette Wills, who is part of the swimming-group Bexhill Seagals, said that the sewage release into the sea will affect both her mental and physical health.

She told the BBC that swimming was more than just a ‘splash around’ and helps her live with her disability.

She said: ‘It is unbelievable and outrageous that the water companies can just continue to get away with this.’

Ms Wills added that the water company’s needed to be ‘held accountable’.

A video posted on Twitter shows the untreated, murky grey liquid quickly spilling out from a pipe onto the beach directly into the sea. 

Hugo Tagholm, who is head of Surfers Against Sewage, accused water companies of committing ‘environmental vandalism’.

He told the BBC: ‘Water companies have flipped from extreme drought to extreme sewage pollution.

‘Years of underinvestment is now in plain sight. It’s time that huge water company profits were diverted to properly managing water and sewage, and protect people and planet.

‘Our rivers and beaches should not be subject to this type of industrial environmental vandalism.’

Politicians have also waged in calling for a plan to end discharges – MPs across Sussex have written to Southern Water and the Environment Agency demanding that the county’s coastline and waterways ‘are respected and protected’.

The letter, dated August 18, said: ‘Once again, the rivers and the coastline across Sussex are being blighted by the discharge of sewage.

‘Whilst information to many of our officers appears to be scant, Southern Water’s own mapping shows, at time of writing, some 15 discharges over the last 72 hours following recent downpours. 

‘In addition to the obvious environmental and community impact, the closure of popular beaches and restrictions on inland waterways causes financial loss to the numerous businesses who rely on our beaches and rivers.’

Brighton and Hove City Council leader, Phélim Mac Cafferty said he was ‘disgusted’ with the release and plans to meet Southern Water’s chief executive next week.

He said: ‘Southern Water need to stop the sewage and pay for an immediate clean-up. But they also need to do much more to stop this happening again.’

Southern Water and Rother District Council said they are investigating the potential impact on the bathing water quality.

The water company said it was unknown how many litres of sewage were disposed into the sea but are ‘liaising closely’ with the Environment Agency.

The water firm, which covers Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, East Sussex, West Sussex and Kent, will also investigate the root cause of the power outage.

It said it would share the cause with customers and stakeholders when it could.

So far this summer, holidaymakers have been warned to avoid 50 beaches across England and Wales because of the sea has been polluted by sewage.

The Safer Seas and Rivers Service, run by campaign group Surfers Against Sewage, revealed sewage had been discharged into seas at beaches in Cornwall, Devon, Sussex, Lancashire and Cumbria, among other places, and warned that bathers could be put at risk.

The most concentrated areas were across the south coast.

Water companies are allowed to release sewage into rivers and seas to prevent sewage works becoming overwhelmed during periods of heavy rain.

But critics say that firms have failed to invest in better infrastructure such as storage tanks, preferring to pay dividends to shareholders and bonuses to top executives.