Blackpool and Penzance among Britain’s most ‘dangerous’ beaches – is your favourite on the list?

BLACKPOOL and Penzance are among Britain’s most “dangerous” beaches – is your favourite on the list?

Surfers Against Sewage, who monitor water quality across the nation, revealed new data showing that a number of UK beaches were polluted.

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The group estimated that there have been “over 400,000 discharges of untreated sewage into UK rivers and almost 5,500 discharges into UK coastal bathing waters”.

And they noted more than 60 current warnings across the country including some of the nation’s most popular beaches.

Long considered one of Britain’s most attractive beach locations, Blackpool beach is currently one of the most polluted.

According to research by Surfers Against Sewage, a “sewer overflow discharges straight onto the beach around the centre of this beach”.

Back in September 2022, beachgoers were warned against bathing in the area.

This was due to a “pollution risk warning” issued by the Environment Agency.

Elsewhere in the Northwest, the campaign group have warned of pollution risks from Morecambe down to Southport on Merseyside.

And the beautiful beaches of Cornwall are not free from sewage discharge.

The campaign group has warned of pollution for Porthleven Sands in Cornwall.

They said: “There are three sewer overflows in the area, one discharges into the harbour, one to the east of the harbour mouth over the rocks into the sea, and another at the western end of Porthleven West.”

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

Previous research from the group has highlighted other popular beaches which have been polluted.

These 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 before against swimming in due to pollution levels.

Surfers Against Sewage have published an 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.

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.

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