Sewage leads to no-swim notice across East Devon

The council has urged people to avoid entering the water at affected beaches

A no-swim warning has been put in place across parts of East Devon following overflows of sewage, a council says.

East Devon District Council (EDDC) said there were overflows of sewage mixed with storm water at Exmouth, Sandy Bay, Budleigh Salterton, Sidmouth Town, Beer and Seaton on Sunday.

In a post on Facebook, the council said the overflows were as a result of heavy rainfall, adding there were a number of overflows into rivers and streams inland.

"We would advise you not to swim at the affected beaches at the present time," it said.

South West Water (SWW) said it was "serious about tackling storm overflows".

“Heavy rainfall across the region... as demonstrated by the yellow weather warning for rain, caused some storm overflows in the area to activate in line with their permits," SWW said.

"We are working hard to actively reduce our use of storm overflows across the region as part of record level investment."

The Environment Agency (EA) has been approached for further details.