DAWLISH town beach is one of four in Devon affected by recent sewage pollution. 

Campaign group Surfers Against Sewage say the beach has been affected by storm sewage being discharged from a sewer overflow over the last two days. 

Five sewer overflows are covered by the organisation’s Safer Seas Service within 650m of the beach which can operate in heavy rainfall. 

Surfers Against Sewage has an interactive map which shows the water quality of popular beaches and swimming spots. 

For Dawlish, Budleigh Salterton, and Sidmouth, it said: ‘Storm sewage has been discharged from a sewer overflow in this location within the past 48 hours and bathing is not advised today due to the likelihood of reduced water quality.’

News of the pollution in Dawlish comes as other beaches have been shut to swimmers due to pollution. 

On Monday the Environment Agency issued warnings against swimming act four beaches including Dawlish Town. 

The warnings follow weeks of problems with sewage spills at Exmouth. 

A statement from South West Water this week said: ‘We have had spills from our storm overflows over the weekend as a result of heavy rainfall. 

‘Storm overflows are pressure relief valves built into our network that stop homes and businesses from flooding during periods of heavy rain.

‘We are serious about tackling storm overflows and change of this scale takes time, ambition, and increased investment – we are working hard to actively reduce our use of storm overflows across the region as part of record level investment.’