Surf competition cancelled due to water pollution

Hannah Brand of Surfing England said they had been "devastated" to have to cancel Sunday's championships

A surf competition has been cancelled due to polluted water, the organisers have said.

Surfing England which hosted the 2025 English Interclub Surfing Championships in Porthtowan, Cornwall, on Saturday said it had been "devastated" to have to cancel Sunday's event which had more than 140 surfers from across the country competing.

Operations manager Hannah Brand said they had asked surfers to leave the water after being informed by lifeguards "that the beach was being red-flagged due to a sewage discharge".

A spokesperson for South West Water (SWW) said: "Our storm overflow at Porthtowan activated this morning in line with its permits following heavy rainfall in the area."

Ms Brand said: "We were devastated to end the event early, especially with clean three–five foot waves providing perfect competition conditions and with such a high standard of surfing on display from the clubs."

"We continue to call on the government to take urgent action on water pollution. Having to cut short such a major event only underlines the importance of ensuring our waters are safe and clean for everyone," she added.

The SWW spokesperson said the company was "serious about tackling storm overflows" and "change of this scale takes time, ambition, and increased investment".

"We are working hard to actively reduce our use of storm overflows across the region as part of our £3.2bm investment programme," they added.