A bathing warning has been issued at a North East beach popular with swimmers and paddleboarders as a political row over water pollution roars on.
Cullercoats Bay in North Tyneside has a water quality warning in place for pollution and bathing in the sea there is being advised against.
The beach is a popular spot with paddleboarders and swimmers with the bay often busy with people enjoying the water during the summer months.
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It is currently the only North East beach with a pollution warning in place.
A statement on the Surfers Against Sewage website which maps over 400 pollution overflows in the country and publishes water quality warnings said: “Bathing not advised due to poor annual classification.
“Cullercoats is a resort beach enclosed by piers at each end making a very sheltered bay. Although there are no sewer overflows discharging directly at Tynemouth Cullercoats, [there is] a large discharge into the River Tyne which meets the sea just to the south of the bathing water.”
Over the summer the bay has been packed out with visitors to the seaside enjoying the beautiful scenery amid the warm weather.
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A political row broke out last week over sewage being pumped into the North Sea with Labour politicians slamming the government over a vote on the issue last year.
Environment Secretary George Eustice insisted storm overflows were “not a new challenge”, as they are “a legacy of the Victorian sewage infrastructure”.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme last week: “There are around 15,000 of these storm overflows and, as I said, they are a legacy of the Victorian infrastructure we had.
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“You could argue that governments down the decades should have prioritised this, but this Government – with me as Secretary of State, and Boris Johnson as Prime Minister – is the first government to actually tackle this problem.”
The news is yet another blow to the region's coastline which has been dogged with pollution fears following the mass crustacean deaths in October last year.
The Northern Echo has contacted Northumbrian Water for a comment
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