Southern Water to be quizzed over water quality

Swimmer Diana Ward says she has seen pollution in the water off the Kent coast

Southern Water is set to be questioned over Kent’s coastal water quality as residents air their frustrations.

Beaches in the area with do-not-swim warnings is being discussed at the Folkestone & Hythe District Council meeting on Tuesday evening.

One swimmer, Diana Ward, told BBC South East how waste in the water had given her stomach bugs.

She said: "I've changed the way I swim. I like front crawl, but I keep my head up. You can see obvious pollution and things floating about."

The water company, the Environment Agency, Kent County Council and the Romney Marsh Area of the Inland Drainage Board will take part in the council meeting.

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

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

Hotel owner Deano Johnson said the swimming ban in Littlestone had an impact on his business

Some residents said they had seen tourist trade impacted by the warnings.

Deano Johnson owns three hotels in Littlestone and said he has had cancellations and a drop in visitors.

He said: "I can give you one example of a surfer who planned to stay here.

"He works from home and he'll be swimming and surfing all the time - that's what he wants to do.

"He made a reservation and then when he found out the water quality, he cancelled."

Leaky cesspits

Southern Water said it was working hard to find the source of the contaminants and to make bathing water safe.

Nick Mills, director of environment innovation, said it was working on connecting some leaky private cesspits to its sewers as well as other sources.

He said: "In St Mary's Bay, we take extra samples with the Environment Agency to speciate what the source is.

"And in that case we found a really strong correlation with seabird markers.

"So we're working in partnership to understand where that contamination could be coming from and steps that we can take to reduce that."

Ahead of the meeting, the Port of Dover said the Environment Agency had notified it of a sewage risk near Shakespeare Beach.

In a post on X, the port said it was taking samples for testing and restricting access to the water in case tides brought sewage into the harbour.

It added: "Daily water testing will continue until we can ensure the beach can be safely reopened."