South West Water: Locals and businesses in Exmouth to launch legal action against UK water firm over sewage spills

The seaside resort intends to take South West Water to court after the town’s popular beach has been hit with “no swim” warnings this summer after repeated sewage spills. Sideshore Community, a non-profit organisation in Exmouth, unveiled the plans to start legal action against South West Water on Facebook, stating that “the businesses and residents of Exmouth can no longer stand by and let South West Water continue to pollute our beautiful bathing waters.”

Dozens of the town’s independent business have joined forces to appoint a law firm to lead the action. The action will claim that the beach closures impacted tourism and led to a significant fall in sales during the summer holidays.

Nicky Nicholls, of beachside retail and leisure hub Sideshore, is co-ordinating between law firm Leigh Day and local business. The action will also include independent restaurants, pubs, cafes, boat trip firms, sailing groups, ice cream parlours and gift shops, as well as locals.

It comes after no-swim warnings were issued for Exmouth beach by the Environment Agency on 14 August after a South West Water sewage pipe burst. The sewer pipe burst at Maer Road pumping station which caused raw waste to leak into the sea just off Exmouth. 

Sideshore Community posted on Facebook that this incident was the “straw that broke the camel's back” and “was one of 12 bursts on Exmouth rising mains in the last year or so - but this time it was right in the middle of our tourist season.” The post added: “Exmouth became national news for all the wrong reasons and the tourists stayed away. Businesses all across the town will tell you about the devastating hit they've taken.

“We are sad that it has come to this, but we have been left with no option. We want our beach back, we want the tourists back and we want to be able to use the asset which is the reason we choose to live in Exmouth. For these reasons, Sideshore is co-ordinating a group of businesses and residents to pursue legal action against South West Water.”

Locals responded to the post saying that they will “fully support” the legal action. One user wrote: “Fully supported!!! I feel so sad that we haven’t been able to use our beautiful beach safely this summer. I feel sad for the businesses that will be struggling without the footfall. It’s not ok and they have to be held accountable.”

Geoff Crawford, a local resident in Exmouth who runs the ESCAPE (End Sewage Convoys And Pollution Exmouth) Facebook page, posted on Facebook that there is “now few people swimming each morning” at Exmouth beach after the sewage spills. Local businesses in Exmouth also told NationalWorld how they have been “hugely impacted”.

Derek Johnson, who runs the Exmouth SUP & Paddle Group, said the “current issues with discharge into the seas has had a huge impact on our group members” as “the current state of our sea water is simply disgusting”. He said he has noticed how instead of checking the weather, many will now check whether the water is safe to swim in before joining the group’s local events.

South West Water is already facing legal action from resident Jo Bateman, who is claiming the company has prevented her from taking her daily swims following multiple spills over the past year. As part of her campaign, Ms Bateman will be handing a 50,000-strong petition to Downing Street today (Tuesday 10 September) calling for more government action on sewage spills.

A spokeswoman for South West Water added: “We are serious about tackling storm overflows and change of this scale takes time, ambition, and increased investment. We are investing around £38m in the Exmouth area up to 2030 which includes upgrades to our pumping stations and treatment works to significantly reduce the number of spills and further protect the environment.”