Cleethorpes: 'State of emergency' urged over sewage

Cleethorpes beach lost its blue flag status this year

A state of emergency should be declared over the poor water quality in rivers and on the coastline in North East Lincolnshire, Labour councillors said.

It comes as people are told not to swim at Cleethorpes beach due to a sewage discharge, and the loss of the beach's Blue Flag status earlier this year.

Labour councillors said Conservative MPs Martin Vickers and Lia Nici had not pushed the issue enough nationally.

The Conservative administration rejected the proposed motion.

At a North East Lincolnshire Council meeting, they argued that the Labour group were bringing in a national issue, and improvements in water quality were being made in England.

They added that Cleethorpes' geographical position at the edge of where the Humber Estuary meets the North Sea was a significant factor.

'False premise'

Labour opposition leader Matthew Patrick said when introducing the motion: "This year alone, more than 50 beaches gave warnings that the water was not safe to swim in as a consequence of raw sewage.

"On 17 August, the government issued a 'pollution risk warning' for the resort alongside the beaches at Humberston Fitties and Ingoldsmells South, and rather depressingly too, Cleethorpes this year lost its Blue Flag award, as the cleanliness of our water was downgraded, falling below a rating of excellent."

The office of Martin Vickers, MP for Cleethorpes, provided an extensive briefing to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) ahead of the meeting defending his actions, including his decision to reject an amendment to the Environment Act in 2021.

The amendment called for water companies "to take all reasonable steps to ensure untreated sewage is not discharged from storm overflows".

The MP said: "The opposition motion is based on the false premise that there is a quick and easy solution to this when there is not."

The LDRS said Labour's motion lost by 25 votes to 7, with the mayor, independent and Lib Dem councillors abstaining.