Exmouth beach: Urgent 'do not swim' warning issued for popular UK beach after major sewage spill

East Devon District Council (EDDC) leader councillor Paul Arnott said due to the "severity of the spill" the council has had to "red flag bathing" at Exmouth beach. Mr Arnott said EDDC officers and the Environment Agency (EA) advised residents and visitors not to bathe in the water.

Mr Arnott added: "We are also closely monitoring the impact on one of our car parks." The ‘do not swim’ warning has been issued due to a burst sewer pipe.

South West Water (SWW) said the burst sewer happened on private land in Exmouth next to Maer Lane wastewater treatment works. It said Maer Lane had been temporarily shut as a result.

A spokesperson for the water company said it was using tankers to "transport flows away from the burst location to the treatment works" to allow teams to work on the damaged pipe. "We will be installing an overland pipe as a temporary solution until a permanent fix can be carried out," they added.

Mr Arnott said the major sewage spill at the Maer represented a "historic new low" for the water company. "This incident not only impacted our residents but also the tens of thousands of tourists that visit Exmouth," he said.

In a statement issued on X, formerly Twitter, South West Water said: “Dear Customers, our teams remain on site to fix the burst sewer on private land next to the Maer Lane wastewater treatment works. We are using tankers to transport flows away from the location of the burst to the treatment works to allow our teams to work on the damaged pipe.

“We will be installing an overland pipe as a temporary solution until a permanent fix can be carried out. To ensure the safety of our teams and road users, we have temporarily closed Maer Lane. We are sorry for any inconvenience and thank local residents and visitors for their patience.”