A Devon beauty spot where Queen Victoria spent time as a child has as seen raw sewage discharged for more than 12 hours. The seaside town of Sidmouth on the Jurassic Coast has seen raw sewage discharged from 7.38pm on Saturday 9 March, according to Surfers Against Sewage.
Now the town has been blighted by a sewage flow, which South West Water said was due to “heavy, localised rainfall” in the area in recent days. Water companies are permitted to use “storm overflows” to discharge waste during periods of intense rainfall to prevent their infrastructure from becoming overwhelmed and sewage backing up into people’s homes. The company said reducing the use of storm overflows is a “priority” and has invested in areas including Sidmouth.
There has been a rise in the number of times raw sewage has been leaked into the seas and waterways in recent times. The heavy rain and storms has put more pressure on water companies and their sewage systems, and there is serious concern over how often raw sewage is allowed into public waterways.
At the time of reporting, SAS has a pollution alert warning for Sidmouth. They say that in the last 48 hours sewage has been “discharged from a sewer overflow”. Just eight of the 39 locations on Devon’s South coast that are regularly monitored by SAS are deemed ‘safe’ to swim at.