Fury as sludge cloud appears after storm drain release at Essex swimming beach

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

A pilot has spoken of his anger at spotting a large brown patch form in the sea where his own children play and swim during the summer holidays after a release by a water company.

Popular Chalkwell Beach in Southend was swamped by an overflow discharge after intense weather battered the UK over the weekend.

Aerial images appear to show a massive pool of dark brown water forming off the coast on Sunday afternoon, where a boating Regatta was being held with children including a scout troop enjoying sailing races, according to locals.

Anglian Water said it was confident the released did not contain sewage, saying it was believed to be formed of silt and debris from a surface water outfall.

Chalkwell is a quiet stretch of sand lying in between the nightclubs, funfairs and casinos of Southend and the historic fishing village of Old Leigh.

It has been described as “a perfect spot for a good old fashioned, cheap as chips, bucket and spade holiday” by the tourist board.

But Pilot Mark Hutley, who took the images from his light aircraft, told The Independent: “It’s the worst I have seen. There was a regatta in the direction this cloud was going, and my own children play on this beach.

“This is supposed to be a swimming beach.”

He added: “I’ve been flying for 30 years over Southend and Kent and have never seen anything like it.

“I guess it’s normally difficult to see when there are waves but that day it was very still so it really stood out.

“It needs to stop. My children play there and so many people use the Thames, it just needs to stop. Look at it all on just one day.”

The Old Leigh Regatta, dating back to the 1880s, was being held at the same time as the discharge featuring sailing races between the Leigh Sailing Club & Essex Yacht Club and maritime demonstrations, tasters and displays, paying homage to the area’s rich fishing and boating legacy.

A second larger discharge was spotted off the Motney Hill Sewage works just a couple of miles away on the same coast.

Shah Haider, 51, formed Southend Against Sewage after a large sinkhole at Southend Sewage Treatment Works damaged the main sewer pipe spraying toilet roll, human waste and sanitary towels everywhere as he swam with his wife in 2021.

He pointed to nearby Thorpe Bay losing its blue flag after an e-Coli outbreak and said he was worried more blue flags would be lost costing tourist-based businesses millions of pounds annually.

He added: “People will stop coming here if we are S***end-on-Sea. You can’t forget that apart from amusements we have a 60-strong seal colony in the mudflats out at sea. We have seen porpoises washed up dead, we don’t know from illness or pollution.”

An Anglian Water spokesperson said they had self-reported the discharge to the Environment Agency.

She said: “We are confident that this was the result of a surface water outflow being triggered in response to the heavy rain and the discolouration is a result of stirred up silt and mud. As this was a modern surface water pipe and not a combined system, this would not contain any sewage.

“Overflows of all kinds are designed to prevent homes and businesses from flooding, and we’d expect to see discharges in wet weather like we saw in Southend yesterday (Sunday 8th September). We have spoken to the EA and the local council who confirm there is no evidence of any sewage.”

An Environment Agency spokesperson said: “Our officers have investigated and found no evidence of sewage discharges or debris in the area.

“The discolouration is likely a result of surface water runoff following heavy rainfall.”