Beachgoers warned against swimming after pollution alert

Visitors to a North Yorkshire beach have been warned not to swim in the sea following a sewage spill, with one swimmer claiming he saw what he believed to be human waste floating in the water.

A "Do Not Swim" notice was put in place at Filey Beach on Saturday.

Robert Forber, who lives nearby, said he had gone for his usual morning swim when he noticed debris drifting across the bay, claiming "it was faecal matter".

Yorkshire Water said it was aware a "pollution risk forecast" had been issued and confirmed it discharged from a storm overflow on Friday after recent heavy rainfall left the sewer network at capacity.

The Environment Agency (EA) said a pollution risk forecast is based on weather and tidal conditions and does not automatically mean sewage is present in the water. It said the warnings can relate to levels of bacteria from a range of sources.

Forber told the BBC a lifeguard confirmed it was safe to swim in the sea because the EA said pollution levels were below dangerous levels. But he was later asked to leave after updated information about water quality was received.

"I got to about a foot deep then noticed all this debris on top of the water - and when I looked more closely it was obviously faecal matter", he said.

"It's sad because this is the busiest bank holiday of the year and there are thousands of tourists coming to Filey", he said.

Yorkshire Water said it understood "the strength of feeling around discharge to coastal areas" and is investing heavily to bring the number of discharges down.

Forber said he was concerned about the impact on both public health and tourism with vulnerable people, children and dogs at risk of falling seriously ill.

"Beaches like this are being ruined by this ongoing pollution," he said.

Forber said he believed more prominent signage was needed to alert beachgoers not to swim in the sea.

"There are some red flags but there is only one red electronic warning sign so unless you see it, you wouldn't know - it's really word of mouth."

However, he praised lifeguards and RNLI staff for informing people about the warning, but said the water company needed to do more to inform the public ahead of any sewage spills.

In a statement, Yorkshire Water said: "It is important to note that water quality can be impacted by many factors beyond storm overflow operation, but we're working with local stakeholders and community groups to identify and tackle these to do everything that we can to improve our bathing waters."

North Yorkshire Council has been approached for comment.

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