MP wades into Newquay beach sewage debate

Image caption, A burst pipe has caused the sea to turn visibly brown at the south end of Fistral beach in Newquay

An MP says he is "concerned" and "frustrated" at the time a water company is taking to resolve a sewage leak near a popular Cornish beach.

A burst pipe in Newquay started releasing raw sewage on Tuesday, and caused the sea at Fistral Beach to turn visibly brown.

Surfers and swimmers have been advised to keep out of the water.

South West Water (SWW) said it is "unable to estimate how long the repair will take."

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Steve Double, MP for St Austell and Newquay raised the issue with Secretary of State for the Environment Michael Gove during a parliamentary debate.

In response Mr Gove said that the Minister responsible for marine environments, Therese Coffey, will be personally intervening with SWW today.

Image caption, Signs have been put up at the beach advising against going into the sea

Speaking after the debate, Mr Double said: "I was concerned to hear of the ongoing sewage leak near Fistral and that SWW are taking so long in dealing with it.

"I have been in daily contact with SWW since the leak and am frustrated that it is still ongoing today.

"As Chair of the Ocean Conservation All Party Parliamentary Group it is clear that we should be doing more to hold water companies to account to prevent and quickly deal with spillages like this in the future."

Environmental campaigners Surfers Against Sewage raised the alert on Tuesday, and have put signs up warning people about the spill.

Their CEO Hugo Tagholm has today tweeted, saying this is "just not good enough from south west water".

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SWW said on Wednesday it has proved a difficult job: "Until we have uncovered the damaged pipe, which is deep underground, we are unable to estimate how long the repair will take but it will be completed as quickly as possible."

The company added that the emergency overflow is about 600m (1968ft) from the bathing water.