Anger as washed-up pellet pollution reaches Kent

Pedro Cayuela said he would not walk his dog along the shore because of them

People who enjoy walking along the south-eastern coastline have hit out at a water firm after pollution caused by the release of millions of plastic pellets appears to have spread.

Local residents - and former pop star Feargal Sharkey - criticised Southern Water after beads that initially washed up on Camber Sands in East Sussex earlier this month washed up on the coast of Kent.

Southern Water said it was "so sorry" after previously admitting it was "highly likely" that the pellets escaped due to an issue at its Eastbourne wastewater site.

Pedro Cayuela, from Littlestone, Kent, told the BBC: "I won't be taking my dog for a walk along the shoreline whilst there is a warning about the beads.

"Southern Water should take greater care of our environment, like water companies do in other countries."

Southern Water has been cleaning up plastic beads from Camber sands

Peter Crome, from Camber, said: "The water company shareholders make huge dividends, but this money should be invested into improving the water quality.

"I'm worried about what tourists will think."

Sharkey, who is now a clean water campaigner, branded Southern Water's clean up "a sham" in a post on social media.

He said he had been told by local people that the pollution stretches along the coast as far as Dungeness, in Kent, a distance of over 10 miles.

He added: "They also tell me the plastic beads are... threatening the Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, home to over 4,200 species of plants and animals."

Peter Crome worried what tourists would think

Folkestone and Hythe MP Tony Vaughan said pellets were turning up in St Mary's Bay, in Kent.

He said: "Southern Water - you need to get down here and clean up your mess."

Kent County Council's cabinet member for the environment, David Wimble, said: "The biggest problem is the fact that the wildlife is swallowing the beads, dogs are even swallowing them as they go for their morning walks on the beach."

Southern Water, he said, had "owned" the problem.

"It's what they do next with the clean-up operation (which) is the most important thing." he added.

Councillor David Wimble said what Southern Water did next was important

Hastings and Rye MP Helena Dollimore said she was told by Southern Water that about 312 milllion beads had been released.

Southern Water said it was working with Sussex Wildlife Trust, the Environment Agency and others to stop more beads getting into Rye harbour or saltmarsh, and to find the best way recover beads in the sea.

It added: "We now know substantially fewer beads - less than 10 tonnes - entered the sea, than was initially feared.

"Teams are daily walking over beaches on a 40-mile stretch of the coast from Eastbourne to St Mary's Bay, but our forecasts suggest the beads have dispersed widely and are in very low concentrations."

Southern Water has apologised after the plastic pellets washed up on Camber Sands beach

Small amounts had been found and removed from other beaches, the firm said.

"Our response to this incident will need to be sustained and long term." it added.

The Environment Agency said: "We acknowledge that Southern Water has admitted responsibility for the pollution incident at Camber Sands.

"This is an active investigation and we will not hesitate to take robust enforcement action where appropriate."