Warning as treated sewage pours into sea

Effluent from a sewage plant has been pouring from a cliff at a popular seaside resort after a suspected blockage in an outfall pipe.

The Environment Agency (EA) has advised people against bathing from the beach at Bigbury on Sea in south Devon.

South West Water (SWW) said it was "working hard" to clear the suspected blockage and stop the leak of the "fully treated" effluent.

"We have a team of divers on site who are assessing and attempting to clear any obstruction," it said.

An SWW spokesperson said the problem was "likely caused by recent storms".

"To avoid any environmental impact, we are tankering treated water away," they said.

Weather and tidal conditions in recent days had made remedial work "difficult".

But the firm said it hoped "clear the blockage as soon as possible" and it was "taking steps to prevent this issue happening again".

The EA put up warning signs at the same beach in May after a blockage in the outfall pipe.

Dr Stuart Watts, chairman of Bigbury Parish Council, said the capacity of the treatment works was "completely inadequate" and "radical action is needed".

"Clearly there is a perennial problem with the discharge into the sea only a couple of hundred metres off a holiday beach," he said.

"The situation needs a complete overhaul of how SWW deal with sewage at Bigbury to eliminate this health hazard."

The EA said it had been "alerted to a blocked pipe in the Bigbury-on-Sea area by South West Water".

It said: "As a precaution, we have issued advice against swimming in the vicinity while South West Water work to rectify the problem.

"Once the blockage has been resolved, and following two tidal cycles, this advice will be removed.

"Before visiting any bathing water, we always recommend swimmers check our Swimfo site for any updates."

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