North Kent coast sewage leak prompts 'stay out of the sea' warning

The council says people should not enter the water between Tankerton and Studd Hill

People have been warned not to enter the sea on a stretch of coast about three miles (4.8 km) long after a sewage leak.

Canterbury City Council said the pollution incident happened on Friday and involved a Southern Water sewer.

It said it was monitoring the area between Tankerton and Studd Hill on the North Kent coast.

Southern Water said a system fault at a pumping station in Swalecliffe led to waste water entering a nearby brook.

A spokesperson said: "Our specialist teams are on site, the failure has been identified and a fix is being carried out. The site is now running as normal."

They added "minimal signs of waste" were found when teams arrived on site "at first light to carry out beach walks" at Herne Bay, Tankerton and West Beach.

A full clean-up is being carried out along the affected stretch of brook, the firm said.

The council said the leak happened over a four-hour period on Friday.

In a separate incident, Bulverhythe beach in Hastings, on the East Sussex coast, reopened on Friday after a "serious" sewage leak caused by a burst Southern Water waste pipe.

The firm was ranked one of England's worst water companies for pollution incidents last year, according to Environment Agency data.

In July it was fined a record £90m for deliberately dumping billions of litres of raw sewage into the sea.

Follow BBC South East on Facebook, on Twitter, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail].