Number of bathing spots in UK with poor water quality has doubled in the last year

The shocking state of Britain's bathing waters has been laid bare as new figures reveal the number of beauty spots deemed unfit for swimming because of sewage has doubled in a year.

- HOLLY EVANS

Of England’s 451 protected bathing spots, 37 are now rated as poor – the lowest category – because they contain unsafe levels of potentially deadly bacteria, including E coli and intestinal enterococci, due to sewage spills. The 2024 figures, provided by the Environment Agency, are up from 18 in 2023.

And so far this month, there have been more than 6,000 sewage discharges across England, Scotland and Wales, with alerts issued at 157 beaches through campaign group Surfers Against Sewage’s Safer Seas and Rivers Service app. The highest number of pollution incidents recorded in 2024 was at Wallasey, Birkenhead, which had 2,201 spills.

Water companies in England reported 2,487 pollution incidents last year, the highest in a decade, and a 30 per cent increase against the Environment Agency’s target to reduce sewage. The Environment Agency said this level of pollution is “unacceptable”, while MPs from across the political divide branded sewage levels “deeply troubling” and “absolutely shocking”.

It comes as a new report from campaign group SAS revealed it received 1,853 sickness reports in the past year – an average of five people a day. Of this number, 331 people were so ill they had to see a doctor, with 79 per cent reporting that their illness was linked to sewage pollution.

Health issues reported have included gastroenteritis, chest infections and serious bacterial infections, with some swimmers having to be hospitalised.