A new analysis has found that long-established Christmas seaside swimming locations have been flooded with sewage over the last year, prompting concern that swimmers could fall ill.
The swimmers would not be able to claim compensation, as Tory MPs earlier this month blocked a Lib Dem amendment that would have allowed anyone who got sick as a result of illegal sewage dumping to claim from water companies.
During the festive season, swimmers traditionally wear cheery fancy dress as they plunge into the sea at beaches from Eastbourne, Sussex, to St Ives, Cornwall.
Statistics analysed by the Lib Dems have found that this year, festive swimmers will be using beachfronts where 4,574 hours of sewage has been spilled. Between the 32 event locations analysed by the party, almost 1,000 sewage spills were found to have occurred this year.
The former party leader, Tim Farron was quoted as saying that there needed to be a ban on sewage dumping in swimming areas.
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In Sale, Greater Manchester, swimmers attending a Boxing Day charity event will be exposed to waters that have had 94 sewage discharges nearby. On the same day, an event in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, will expose swimmers to waters in which there have been 67 sewage discharges lasting a total of 405 hours over the last year.
A New Year’s Day swim location in Saunderfoot, Wales, has had 1,244 hours worth of sewage pumped into nearby waters this year. At Brighton, which holds a festive swimming event for instance, Southern Water fails to even monitor sewage, leaving revellers oblivious to the water quality.
Recall that two years ago, outdoor swimmers in Oxfordshire were forced to cancel their Boxing Day swim after Thames Water announced a sewage dump on Christmas Day. Farron, now the Lib Dem’s environment spokesperson, criticised the “Christmas stink” left by Conservative ministers. He expressed fears swimmers who could be made ill by the sewage, with no compensation from water companies after Conservatives blocked a proposed new law in parliament earlier this month.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
