Those planning an Easter Saturday swim or surf have been warned of sewage overflows at nearly 30 of Devon's most popular beaches. It comes after heavy rain battered the region over the last few days.
29 beaches in Devon have suffered sewage overflows in the last 48 hours, according to Surfers Against Sewage. East and South Devon are the worst affected areas, while a handful of North Devon beaches also have alerts in place.
This morning's alerts include visitor hotspots such as Exmouth, Beer, Dawlish, Torquay, Salcombe and Plymouth, among many others. These areas were hit by heavy rain and gale-force winds on Thursday (March 28), with the Met Office having issued a yellow weather warning for most of South Devon and Cornwall.
Surfers Against Sewage issues the alerts on a real-time map, which allows people to track sewage spills and pollution risk at beaches around the UK. On their website, they explain that many of the spills come from sewer overflows, which are meant to be used as "an emergency relief valve" when the sewerage system becomes overloaded.
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Earlier this month, the UK Government announced that South West Water would invest £32million into tackling sewage overflows. Responding to the news, Surfers Against Sewage's chief executive Giles Bristow welcomed the plans but said "questions still remain on the scale and scope of the Government’s ambitions for our rivers and seas".
There are storm sewage alerts at the following beaches in Devon:
- Seaton
- Beer
- Sidmouth
- Budleigh Salterton
- Sandy Bay
- Exmouth
- Dawlish
- Colyton Cove
- Holcombe
- Shaldon
- Meadfoot
- Beacon Cove
- Torre Abbey
- Preston
- St Mary's Bay
- Dartmouth Castle and Sugary Cove
- Slapton Sands Torcross
- Mill Bay
- Salcombe South Sands
- Hope Cove
- South Milton Sands
- Mothecombe
- Wembury
- Plymouth Hoe East
- Plymouth Hoe West
- Firestone Bay
- Westward Ho!
- Ilfracombe
- Instow
