The waters of UK beaches are making hundreds of people sick, including tourists left with a stomach bug, according to a marine charity.
Britain’s polluted waters have been in the spotlight since the Environment Agency’s unfavourable findings last week, showing that almost all of England’s lakes, rivers and coastal waters are heaving with toxic chemicals.
And the UK’s water crisis is deepening after campaigners from Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) received a record number of sickness reports from beachgoers.
The affected beaches include several blue flag spots, which are given their title for the highest water quality, biodiversity levels and safety on a global scale.
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SAS recorded 765 reports of sickness across 406 UK locations since the start of the year, the Mirror reports.
And the spring and summer season has seen a large chunk of them – more than half of the reports, 322, were reported since May 1 as people escaped the scorching heatwaves by the water.
Tourists were left with gastroenteritis and ear infections, while weeks off work sick and hospitalisations were also reported to the charity.
Are you worried about water quality when swimming outdoors?
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Yes, it has stopped me from swimming
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No, not really, and I’ll swim regardless
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Maybe, but I try not to think about it
The highest number of reports named Bournemouth beaches, with 16 people saying they felt sick after swimming.
Thirteen reports came from Croyde Bay, North Devon, and Polzeath on the north coast of Cornwall, according to the data.
Next up on the list is Rest Bay, Porthcawl, Bridgend, Wales, with 12 people reporting feeling unwell after a dip.
Jo Morley, SAS’s head of campaigns, accused water companies of ‘making us sick’ after decades of pumping sewage into open waters.
She said it was ‘totally unacceptable that people are getting ill in any case, especially after using bathing water rated as ‘excellent.”
The Environment Agency urged people to check the Swimfo website for the latest water status before dipping in at the 464 designated swimming spots.
It said that some bacteria in the UK’s rivers, lakes and seas, can make people unwell.
The Environment Agency has found that just over 14% of England’s surface water have a good ecological health status.
They are affected by sewage spills, agricultural nutrients running off land, and urban pollutants like litter, petrol and garden pesticides.
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