Wild swimmers set to take the plunge in sewage spill hotspots

CHRISTMAS wild swimmers will take a dip in areas affected by 1,000 sewage spills last year, new analysis of polluted hotspots has shown.

The Liberal Democrats picked out 32 locations where thousands of people are set to head between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day.

A study of Environment Agency data carried out by Sir Ed Davey’s party found that more than 4,500 hours of sewage had been spilled on to beachfronts at the sites.

These include Saunderfoot in Wales, where a swim is scheduled to take place on New Year’s Day despite 1,244 hours of sewage having been pumped into the waters in 2022.

A Boxing Day swim event being held in Sale near Manchester, in aid of a mental health charity, will take place in water where 94 sewage spills happened last year, which came to a total of 293 hours.

And an event on the same day in

Cirencester, a market town in Glouces- tershire, was affected by 405 hours of sewage discharges.

Sewage spills occurred on more than 300,000 occasions last year, Environment Agency data show, with a report earlier this year finding almost 2,000 cases of people becoming sick as a result of suspected sewage pollu- tion, more than twice the previous year’s figure.

Other swims taking place in water that has seen hundreds of hours of sewage spills include a Hartlepool Boxing

The number of sewage spills last year, which are said to have contributed to a doubling in the cases of people being sick

Day Dip, a Lake 32 Boxing Day swim and the Saundersfoot New Year’s Day Swim.

Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrats’ environment spokesman, said the figures represented “a real Christmas stink for so many hoping to enjoy their festive traditional swim”.

He added: “It’s disgusting that our coastlines and lakes have been polluted by this foul habit. There needs to be a ban on sewage discharges in swimming areas.

“When will Conservative ministers finally clamp down on profiteering water firms who are destroying our environment?”

The Liberal Democrats have made the sewage crisis their main campaigning issue this year in the hope this focus can win them seats in the so-called Blue Wall, which consists of rural Conservative heartlands, at the general election next year.

Ministers have responded by strengthening plans to tackle sewage outflows in the wake of pressure from opposition parties, with targets to eliminate sewage dumping in English rivers by 2050 made legally binding earlier this year.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs was contacted for comment.

Toy Story 4 is this year’s BBC One film on Christmas Day, which was released in 2019 and has already been available on streaming sites