Brits warned not to visit 50 ‘dangerous’ UK beaches

BRITS are being warned to stay away from as many as 50 beaches across the UK due to dangerous levels of pollution.

New data revealed by Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) has found a number of beaches along the coastlines have seen sewage leaking into the sea.

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Sewage overflows often happen after heavy rainfall, which leads to the system being overwhelmed and forced to release untreated water to avoid waste backing up.

The warning states: “Storm sewage has been discharged from a sewer overflow in this location within the past 48 hours.”

Some of the popular beaches which have been polluted include a number of beaches around Brighton and Southend, as well as near Newquay and Bognor Regis.

Beaches near Skegness and Robin Hood Bay have also been warned against swimming in due to pollution levels.

Anyone who swims in polluted water can fall ill if they digest the water, as well as suffer from skin infections.

Twitter user Martyn tweeted a video showing sewage being pumped into the sea at Seaford in East Sussex.

He wrote: “Raw sewage pumped into sea today at Seaford, E. Sussex after storm.

“Yep…that’s a Marine Protected Area. 1000s swimming here just yesterday. Horrendous.”

Surfers Against Sewage publishes the shocking interactive map which tracks real-time sewage overflows and pollution risk forecasts.

It monitors the water quality at over 400 locations around UK rivers and coastlines.

The marine conservation charity has spent years urging politicians to introduce a legal duty on water companies to stop discharging raw sewage into rivers and the ocean.

Last year, Southern Water was fined a record £90 million for deliberately pumping 16 to 21 billion litres of sewage into the sea between 2010 and 2015.

And in 2020, more than 100 beaches had a sewage warning following heavy rain.

Brits instead need to head to a Blue Flag beach in the UK, which is awarded the status for a number of reasons including no sewage discharge.

There is currently a total of 182 Blue Flag beaches across the UK – 77 of these can be found in England.

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