Twelve beaches are hit by sewage

TWELVE Devon beaches – 11 of them on the south coast of the county – were put on pollution alert yesterday, after more heavy rain fell overnight on Tuesday.

The beaches include some of the county’s most famous tourist hot-spots. Torre Abbey Sands at Torquay was the first to be placed on an official Pollution Alert, meaning that storm sewage had been discharged from a sewer overflow in the location within the past 48 hours. The precautionary alerts were provided via South West Water’s BeachLive service.

There is a sewer overflow in the urban catchment directly behind the beach that discharges into the Torre Abbey stream. Torre Abbey Sands was made the subject of an alert on Monday, which was still in place yesterday.

The 10 other beaches were added overnight. They include Beer, where three overflows surround the beach, with one discharging from Beer car park, one discharging 600 metres northeast and one further to the south.

Other beaches affected were Sidmouth, where one overflow discharges through a long sea outfall some 600m out to sea, while the other discharges into the River Sid, just under 400m to the east. At Budleigh Salterton, there are three sewer overflows in the area. One discharges directly on to the beach, another 400m east, while the other discharges 1.3km away into the sea.

At Exmouth, there is a sewer overflow discharging through an outfall to the south-east, which may affect bathing water quality, especially after heavy rainfall.

Dawlish Town Beach has five sewer overflows covered by the Safer Seas Service within 650m of the beach which can operate in heavy rainfall.

At Coryton Cove, a sewer overflow discharges over the rocks at the southern end of the beach. Teignmouth’s Holcombe Beach has a sewer overflow which discharges into the Holcombe Stream, 40m upstream of the beach.

Beacon Cove can be affected after heavy rainfall. Goodrington has one sewer overflow discharging directly on to the beach while another discharges 500m upstream in the Goodrington Stream that then meets the sea towards the southern end of the beach.

In the South Hams, Mothecombe beach is on the list because Ermington and Ivybridge can discharge into the River Erme, whose estuary Mothecombe is located in.

In North Devon, Westward Ho! is affected. A sewer overflow discharges to the sea at Nose Rock at the southern end of the beach, while the Tawe/Torridge estuary also receives overflows from the surrounding urban area.