'Coastline crisis' declared as Britons put off swimming due to rampant sewage dumps

Nearly half of people said they would never swim in the sea during the summer because of Britain’s sewage scandal, a poll has revealed. The Liberal Democrats branded it a “coastline crisis” with people “afraid” of enjoying the British summertime because of rampant sewage dumping.

Nearly two in four people (44%) told how they would not go for a dip even if the Government were to meet its new target to halve sewage spills by 2030, a survey for the Liberal Democrats found.

The Party’s environment spokesman Tim Farron MP said: “This coastline crisis threatens to wreck British summers with people afraid of swimming in the sea due to rampant sewage dumping. These polluting firms have been let off the hook at every turn and it is our local environments and people’s summer holidays that are suffering the consequences.”

The poll also found that less than a fifth (18%) of people say they would actually be more likely to swim in the sea if the Government meets its target of cutting spills in half.

More people (19%) said even if the Government hit its target they would actually be less likely to swim in the sea with 45% of people saying they still would not swim in the sea.

Mr Farron added: “The Government has tried talking a good game on sewage but their targets have failed to wash with the public who expect more than a job half done. The only way to reverse the Conservatives' neglect of our waterways is for Labour to give the new regulator the powers it needs to hold these water companies accountable for the damage they are doing.

“That means allowing for serious and higher fines to be levied with persistent sewage dumpers held criminally responsible. The public will not stand for anything less.”

Close to three in ten (29%) of those polled who said they go swimming in the sea now would not do so anymore because of sewage dumping.

This is a rise of six percentage points from 23% in just two years, when the same poll was conducted for the Liberal Democrats in 2023.

In 2024, water companies in England released sewage into waterways for a record-breaking 3.6 million hours.

Environment Secretary Steve Reed said last month that Labour would look to eliminate sewage pollution in rivers completely by 2035.

He said that halving pollution in five years was not “the end of our ambition”.

Mr Reed said: “Over a decade of national renewal, we will be able to eliminate unauthorised sewage spillages.

“But you have to have staging posts along the way. Cutting it in half in five years is a dramatic improvement to the problem getting worse and worse and worse every single year.”