Eco-heartbreak as seas under attack

THIS coastline is our pride and joy - it’s where we live, work and play. But between cancelled beach days, illnesses and the damage to wildlife, we're seeing the effects of pollution first hand. And we're not staying silent about it any more.”

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So said Ella Staden, speaking at Broad Haven beach in Pembrokeshire, who was among thousands of water users around the UK staging a nationwide protest against sewage pollution on Saturday by paddling out into water at dozens of locations.

The protesters were calling for total reform of the water industry in Wales and England, and clearer monitoring and transparency of the sewage crisis in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

And who can blame them? The figures which lay bare years of neglect of our seas and waterways are as sickening as they are indefensible.