THE Environment Agency has ruled out sewage as the main cause of death in crabs that are washing up on North East beaches.

Many environmental campaigners were pointing to sewage as a potential cause behind the crabs dying.

It came at a time when MPs were debating storm drain overflows in Parliament which would allow water companies to offload sewage into the sea during storms and flooding.

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: “We continue to work with partners at the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture to investigate why thousands of dead crabs have washed up along the shore in the Tees Estuary and neighbouring beaches.

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“The discharge of raw sewage has been considered, however, this is not the main focus of our investigation as no significant incidents involving sewage in the lower tees and coastal areas have been reported to us and there has been no evidence of spills of sewage that could link to the deaths.

“Samples of water, sediment, mussel and crab have been collected and are being analysed by our labs, to consider whether a pollution incident could have contributed to the deaths of the animals. We have also shared samples with Cefas labs for disease analysis. “If you are aware of pollution affecting wildlife, or spot any dead or sick crustaceans on the region’s coastline, please report it to the Environment Agency on 0800 807060.”

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Now, the Environment Agency along with the Marine Management Organisation are looking into seismic activity and wind turbines for the cause of deaths.

Crabs have been washing up on the shores around Redcar, Saltburn and Hartlepool for a few weeks which has got many beach users worried about water safety.

The investigation continues.

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