‘Do not swim’ warning at 8 UK beaches as E.coli detected after sewage leaks into sea

Holidaymakers are being warned to avoid a swathe of popular UK beaches due to harmful bacteria in the water following a sewage leak.

The Environment Agency said E.coli - a bacteria that can cause illnesses - has been detected in the water off the coast of Blackpool.

It comes after storms on 11 and 12 June caused waste to be pumped into the sea on the Fylde Coast in Lancashire as tankers were unable to cope and were overwhelmed.

It led to a “do not swim” warning being issued across eight beaches, including Blackpool’s main beaches, and the alert is currently still in place.

The beaches with an advisory do not swim warning include:

• Fleetwood
• Cleveleys
• Bispham
• Blackpool North
• Blackpool Central
• Blackpool South
• St Annes North
• St Annes

The Environment Agency confirmed swimmers are advised to avoid the beach’s water until the situation is fully under control.

It said in a statement: “We are continuing to regularly monitor water quality along the coast to help inform decisions about when the current advice against swimming can be removed. Polluting our seas and rivers is unacceptable and we are carrying out a detailed investigation into this incident along the Fylde Coast.”

Blackpool Council leader Lynn Williams described the situation “appalling” as the town is “at the start of our summer season with some glorious weather”.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4, Councillor Williams said that the incident "could not be much more serious for Blackpool". She said: "We’re just at the start of our summer season with some glorious weather and we’re faced with having to put out advisory notices telling people not to go into the sea because of the discharges of sewage. It’s appalling."

Ms Williams said she is concerned about the actions already taken as "we don’t know how much sewage has been discharged".

She added: "United Utilities are not obliged to say; only to say how many times and for how long. It’s a torrid state of affairs for a company that last year paid out £300 million to its shareholders."

Despite the warning, Councillor Williams still encouraged people to visit Blackpool, adding: "The advisory notice is not to go into the sea but the beaches are not impacted. Please do come, just don’t have a paddle right now."

A spokesman for water company United Utilities, which runs the site, said that the clean up was “95% complete”.

He said: “The number of people, experts and equipment involved are something that’s never been seen before.”