Poor swimming water not caused by floods - firm

Southern Water and other agencies were questioned over Kent's coastal water quality on Tuesday

Storm discharges are not the cause of poor quality coastal water in Kent, Southern Water has said.

The firm was questioned alongside the Environment Agency (EA) over beaches with do-not-swim warnings at a Folkestone & Hythe District Council meeting on Tuesday evening.

In a statement after, Southern Water said the issue was "complex" but not caused by storm overflows.

It added that it was working with the EA, local authorities, farmers and other interested parties to "urgently" find the sources of pollution in the area.

In 2023, the EA issued swimming warnings at St Mary's Bay and Littlestone.

In August, the agency said the warnings would stay put until at least 2025.

Council leader Jim Martin told BBC Radio Kent on Wednesday that agencies were "finally" taking declining water quality "very seriously".

"I would love to say...There's light at the end of the tunnel. I don't see it, because they don't know what the problem is, where the source is," he said.

Southern Water said it was "very confident" storm overflows were unlikely to be the issue in the area

Nick Mills, director of environment and innovation at Southern Water, told the council meeting the firm was "very confident" that storm overflows were "unlikely to be the issue".

Sewer overflows allow excess wastewater to be discharged into the sea and rivers during heavy rainfall.

Rosie Cansdale, from the EA, told the meeting that the source of pollution in the area was "diffuse".

She added that the agency had found dog faeces, "lots of avian DNA", human faeces "from misconnections" and "also a bit of agricultural input from cattle" during testing.

"There isn’t a major source for any of this but we have located many, many minor sources," she added.

Kent County Council and the Romney Marsh Area of the Inland Drainage Board also took part in the council meeting.