Hundreds turn out for paddle out sewage protests

Gylly Beach was one of the sites of the protest

Hundreds of swimmers, surfers and paddleboarders have taken to the sea in Cornwall and Devon as part of an annual protest against an "ongoing sewage scandal".

The nationwide Paddle Out Protest, hosted by Surfers Against Sewage (SAS), took place across 42 bathing sites across the UK on Saturday, including Gylly Beach in Falmouth, as well as Porthmeor and Seaton in Cornwall; and Exmouth, Croyde and Plymouth Hoe in Devon.

The charity said water users in the south-west of England were paddling out "against South West Water's shocking record of sewage pollution".

South West Water said its focus had been to reduce spills at beaches in the bathing season by 20% in the last five years.

'Stop this destruction'

SAS CEO Giles Bristow, who attended the protest in Falmouth, said the organisation was holding water companies to account.

He said: "We want this ocean to be clean, we want to be able to swim and surf in places like this and just enjoy it without the risk of getting sick; and we want to stop this destruction of our beautiful and precious environment.

"We want people to enjoy it, we want people to go in informed and make sure they're safe, but, ultimately, we've got to clean up these, quite frankly, dirty waters.

"Yes, they're telling us they're investing. The question is can we trust them to do this. So we're all here, we're watching and we're holding them to account."

Giles Bristow said the protest was part of work to hold water companies to account

South West Water said it "fully respected" the rights of those who wish to protest peacefully.

A spokesperson said: "We were one of only five companies in the industry to reduce spills compared to 2023.

"Our focus has been to reduce spills at beaches in the bathing season by 20% in the last five years as we continue to focus on what our customers care about.

"We have also been focused on the highest-spilling sites from 2023 and have already removed three-quarters of the top 20 sites.

"There's more to do and we're committed to delivering real change for our customers as we spend record amounts to reduce our use of storm overflows."

South West Water provides water and sewerage services to about 1.8 million customers in Devon and Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly, plus small parts of Dorset and Somerset.