Exmouth beach pollution sparks no swim warning

Officials have told people not to swim at Exmouth beach due to pollution

People have been told not to swim at a Devon beach after pollution was detected there for the second time in three days.

The Environment Agency (EA) said it had issued advice against bathing at Exmouth on Monday following a discharge at a South West Water (SWW) sewage storm overflow.

It followed a separate incident at Exmouth on Saturday reported by East Devon District Council (EDDC) which led to no swim advice being issued at Exmouth for several hours.

A SWW spokesperson said heavy rainfall had caused its Maer Road pumping station storm overflow to operate and apologised to those impacted.

The EA added warnings had also been put in place on Monday in Seaton, Budleigh Salterton and Dawlish, but these were not linked to the Exmouth incident.

'Health of residents'

In August, people were also advised not to swim at Exmouth on 15 August and the weekend of 17 August.

The EA said the discharge in Exmouth on Monday coincided with heavy overnight rain.

It added a site controller was sent to the beach to carry out an investigation.

"The advice will remain in place for two tidal cycles and we are reviewing whether or not the discharge was in line with SWW’s permit to discharge," the EA said.

EDDC leader Paul Arnott said SWW's handling of pollution issues in recent weeks had been "unacceptable".

He added the council would be working with the EA to monitor bathing water quality.

"These sewage spillages risk the health of residents and visitors, as well as impacting the wider environment," Mr Arnott said.

'Very complex work'

SWW said sudden and heavy rainfall overnight on Monday led to the storm overflow in Maer Road to operate to "protect homes and businesses from flooding".

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

"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."

Speaking about Saturday's incident, SWW said on Facebook the spillage came from a temporary tank feeding an overland pipeline.

The post said: "The cause was due to human error, and the new processes were immediately put in place to make sure this doesn't happen again.

"We're truly sorry for the disruption this has caused the local community."