The Liberal Democrat Party has warned that nearly 1,000 sewage spills took place at Christmas swimming locations across the country including Eastbourne.
The party said that the warning was a “real Christmas stink” as it called for a ban on sewage dumping at bathing sites.
Former Lib Dem leader Tim Farron said there “needs to be a ban on sewage dumping in swimming areas”.
He added: “The freezing cold water should be the only thing swimmers worry about, not sewage floating by them.
“This is a real Christmas stink for so many hoping to enjoy their traditional festive swim. The freezing cold water should be the only thing swimmers worry about, not sewage floating by them.
“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?
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“It was shocking to see Conservative MPs block plans to compensate swimmers made sick by sewage. Not only are they letting them pump sewage into waterways, but they are also content for swimmers to get sick.”
Brighton Christmas swimmers will be unable to know if waters have been affected by sewage discharges as it takes place outside of waters that Southern Water monitors.
Protests took place on Brighton beach earlier this year lead by the Surfers Against Sewage lobbying group.
A Surfers Against Sewage report found there were 1,924 cases of people getting sick due to suspected sewage pollution over the last year, nearly triple the number of cases reported in the previous year.
More than 1,200 hours of sewage spills took place at Chichester Harbour, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, between the end of October and end of November.
Southern Water previously said that reducing storm overflow releases was their “top priority” adding that erratic weather “driven in part by climate change” was the cause of some of the overflows earlier this year.
Brighton’s Christmas Day swim is due to take place from around 11am on Brighton seafront.
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