Major sewage spill at Eastbourne after Southern Water 'electrical fault'

Video report by ITV News Meridian's Abigail Bracken

Southern Water is under fire after tons of sewage entered the sea at Eastbourne, in one of the biggest pollution spills seen on the East Sussex coast.

The company says this latest spill was caused by an electrical fault on Saturday (February 5) which meant wastewater was "unable" to be treated before entering the sea.

It comes after the company pledged to clean up its act following a record £90 million fine for deliberately dumping raw sewage into the Channel to avoid the cost of treating it.

In the last year, Southern Water has let wastewater into the sea at Eastbourne 20 times.

However, this latest release was by far the longest, lasting for 17 hours.

Southern Water said specialist teams worked to resolve the situation "as quickly as possible".

It said some untreated wastewater had to be released on Saturday evening during stormy conditions, to avoid nearby homes and businesses being flooded.

Some swimmers from the local group Eastbourne Sea Swimmers were in the water on Sunday, not knowing that waste was being pumped out to sea.

Colin Tallowin, from the group, said: "Fingers crossed the dilution effect is adequate and I am lucky, but unlike some of the government suggestions about swimming with your mouth closed, it's not practical to swim with your mouth closed."

Chris Brooks, also from the group, said: "You see people in there, they don't know that there's been sewage released into the sea and this is what's happening all the time. It seems to be getting worse."

In October last year, 14 beaches were closed in Thanet because untreated waste was discharged through storm overflows.

Many businesses say they rely on the sea being sewage-free.

Tony Kirrage, a tackle shop owner, said: "It will affect the fishing in the long run because like the rivers inland, they're polluted now with lots of chemicals and stuff and the fish are dying. It's not good and not good for my business."

A spokesperson for Southern Water said: "One of the main High Voltage control transformers at our Eastbourne wastewater treatment centre developed a fault during the evening of Saturday 5 February. 

"Its high-voltage safety trip was automatically activated to protect equipment and the electricity network. 

"Our priority is to protect the environment and specialist crews were immediately on scene and quickly isolated the smoking transformer.

"This transformer issue meant that the site was unable to treat wastewater via the treatment.

"Specialists worked to resolve the situation as quickly as possible in challenging conditions.

"The treatment works is underground and had flooded. Wastewater treatment was restarted around lunchtime on Sunday and has been treating wastewater since.  

"To reduce environmental impact, we immediately brought in tankers to the pumping stations that feed the works, reducing flows.

"However, some screened wastewater was released intermittently on Saturday night during stormy conditions to protect homes and businesses. 

"We continue to patrol the beaches and have found no evidence of impact. If we do find evidence of a spill to a beach, we will immediately start a clean-up.

"The Environment Agency was immediately informed, and we remain in close contact with them and Eastbourne Council’s emergency team.

"A full investigation will be carried out and the Environment Agency and council will be told of findings."