Blackpool North named as one of England's most polluted beaches after new interactive map published

It follows the publication of a new interactive map which flags up 22 beaches – many of them in well known tourism areas – which have been hit by problems with sewage.

The data, published by The Mirror, puts the Blackpool North 13th on the list of shame.

What are the issues at Blackpool North?

Only last month, a sewage leak warning was put in place for Fylde coast beaches, after heavy rainfall caused waste water to be discharged into the sea.

Blackpool North was one of the worst areas affected by that incident.

Marine conservation charity Surfers Against Sewage, which monitors water quality across the nation to alert the public to areas affected by sewage, also created an interactive map at the time.

They said swimming in these areas could lead to infections and illnesses caused by bacteria and viruses in the water.

The issues at Blackpool North, specifically, were also linked to the number of gulls congregating beneath the North Pier to eat the fish and chip scraps left there, before defecating in the sea and contaminating the water.

Peter Sedgewick, whose family business owns the town’s piers, said they had tried numerous times to scare the birds off – without success.

A £200m investment into the Anchorsholme Pumping Works has improved bathing water quality since 2015, leading to four beaches achieving Blue Flag status.

But extended periods of heavy rain has had an impact on other sources of foul water, and obsolete waste water pipes installed in older houses put pressure on the sewage system.

What is the national picture?

Discharges of sewage happen in the seas around Britain's coast regularly and are allowed to happen during very heavy rainfall.

Water companies claim this is to stop the sewage system from becoming overwhelmed.

Some environmentalists have said the UK government has aggravated the situation due to funding cuts and de-regulation.

According to the Government, water companies admitted to the Environment Agency that they they dumped raw sewage into rivers and seas 372,544 times last year.

What they say

A spokesman for Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) said: “The scenes of frequent sewage spills into Blackpool’s coastal waters are sickening but sadly unsurprising.

"Ineffective regulation and weak enforcement have led us to a position where 389,000 sewage discharges pumped into UK waterways last year alone, poisoning precious ecosystems, making people sick, and all while water companies rack up huge profits.

"We demand that the government urgently reviews its wholly inadequate sewage action plan, properly funds the industry regulator to hold water companies to account, and finally makes real efforts to put an end to sewage pollution for good."

The full list

1.St Mary’s Bay, Kent

2.Bognor Regis, West Sussex

3.Lyme Regis Church Cliff Beach, Dorset

4.Watcombe, Devon

5.Dunster Beach, Devon

6.Instow, Cornwall

7.Rock beach, Cornwall

8.Ilfracombe, Devon

9.Burnham Jetty North, Somerset

10.Weston-super-Mare Sand Bay, Somerset

11.Weston Main, Somerset

12.Wolvercote Mill Stream, Oxfordshire

13.Blackpool North, Lancashire

14.Wharfe at Cromwheel, Yorkshire

15.Tunstall, Yorkshire

16.Scarborough South Bay, Yorkshire

17.Bridlington South Beach, Yorkshire

18.Tynemouth Cullercoats, Tyneside

19.Heacham, Norfolk

20.Allonby South, Cumbria

21.Silloth, Cumbria

22.Clacton, Essex