No swim notice for Exmouth beach lifted

The Environment Agency lifted its no swim warning for Exmouth beach on Tuesday

The no swim warning for Exmouth beach has been lifted, the Environment Agency has said.

It had issued advice against bathing at the Devon beach on Monday after pollution had been detected for the second time in three days.

South West Water (SWW) apologised and said it was investigating what happened.

East Devon District Council leader Paul Arnott said he wants the government to "step in" and sort out the problems caused by water company's sewage spills.

'Broken system'

Mr Arnott said: "My first brutal exposure to it was on New Years Day when I became aware of the tankers which were cruising round Exmouth taking sewage out of the failed pumping station.

"I couldn't believe my eyes, that has been going on all year."

He said the government were asking the local authority to build new homes however he said it was "difficult" to agree to with the ongoing sewage issues.

"How can we in all conscious give planning permission to new developments when we know it will overload an already broken system?"

A spokesperson for SWW said: "We are fully investigating what happened, but we are sorry that a pollution incident occurred.

"One pollution is one too many and we are doing everything we can to protect the environment as we work around the clock to complete a very complex work in Exmouth."