Sea dippers protest against sewage overflows at Cresswell in Northumberland

Dozens of protesters took part in a paddle out at Cresswell, coordinated by Surfers Against Sewage (SAS), to protest against the sewage overflows that continue to have a devastating impact on ecological and human health.

Over 30 protests attended by thousands of people took place at beaches and rivers across the UK.

Rexie Akwei-Fraser, founder of the Cresswell Dippers, said: “Our water companies are polluting our rivers and seas by dumping sewage into them. It not only causes health problems for people who come on the beach with things like e-coli or salmonella infection. It’s not just unpleasant, it also creates big problems for our marine life.

"We all know about deforestation and carbon footprints. We should start thinking about what we’re doing to our seas and protecting our seas.”

Colin Wilson, Cresswell parish councillor, said: “Northumbrian Water should not be discharging raw sewage into the oceans at any time, never mind 2024. It’s really time that they stopped and the way we’ll stop it is by constantly putting pressure on them.”

Water companies release excess water and sewage via storm overflows after heavy rain to prevent it backing up into the streets and people's homes, and Cresswell Dippers share concerns with other outdoor swimmers over the effect this has on the seas. They stand with SAS, who are calling for an end to sewage discharges into all bathing waters and high-priority nature sites by 2030.

A spokesperson for Northumbrian Water said: “We share our customers’ passion for having a healthy, thriving water environment and as part of our business plan for 2025-2030 a proposed a £947m investment has been earmarked to reduce the impact of storm overflows, which play a crucial role in protecting the local area from flooding.

“Alongside our partners and others, whose activities have an impact on bathing water quality, we are committed to playing our part in ensuring high standards are achieves and maintained. The fact that 32 of the region’s 34 bathing water meet Defra’s top two standards of Excellent and Good, means 95% of people in the North East live within an hour of a great beach.

“We are proud to have been rated as Good or Excellent by the Environment Agency in the Environmental Performance Assessment (EPA) in each of the last three years and an important part of our industry leading performance in achieving this rating is that we have one of the lowest levels of pollutions in the industry and have had zero serious pollution incidents in the past two years, which shows we are leading the way. Storm overflows are essential at times of heavy rainfall to protect customers’ homes from flooding, which we know is a devastating experience and we need to avoid.

“It’s important to remember that everyone can play their part in ensuring our region has great bathing waters. Simple acts such as picking up litter and dog poo on beaches and putting wet wipes and sanitary products in the bin instead of down the toilet, can all help to protect our environment. This ensures things like this do not appear on our beaches.”