Hayling Island: Water quality monitor to be based off beach

The monitor will be fixed on a buoy 400m (1,300 ft) offshore, west of Beachlands

A water quality monitor that bathers will be able to use before they visit Hayling Island is set to be installed in what is believed to be a UK first.

Havant Borough Council and Southern Water said their pilot scheme would provide residents with live updates.

The monitor will be fixed on a buoy 400m (1,300 ft) offshore, west of Beachlands, to take water samples. Results will be uploaded to a website.

The council said it would allow residents to "swim with confidence".

Dr Nick Mills, head of Storm Overflow Task Flow at Southern Water, said it was "the vital first step" to ensure people "can understand what is really happening in our coastal waters", according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

"We hope that this pilot on Hayling will show the way forward for our entire region and what is possible when we work together," he added.

Councillor Alex Rennie, leader of Havant Borough Council, said: "This is new, ground-breaking technology that will allow our residents and visitors to check the water quality at Hayling Island for themselves and swim with confidence.

"We have been listening to residents who have been telling us that they need better, more up-to-date information on water quality and this exciting new scheme is the result.

"This will be the first time this system is used in this country and could be the first of many such monitors along our shorelines in the future."