New figures indicate rise in sewage spills at prestigious Norfolk beaches
Sewage is believed to have poured into the sea for over 2,500 hours last year
New figures have revealed that sewage spills have risen at a number of Norfolk's beaches, threatening their Blue Flag status.
Data from the Environment Agency found that untreated wastewater had spilled into the coastal waters of the north of the county for over 2,500 hours last year.
This marks an increase on figures from last year, with West Runton, East Runton and Mundesley being particularly affected.
The spillage is believed to have come from Cromer's main sewage network which empties into the North Sea.
Some of the added spillage spread to the likes as West Runton, which suffered over 120 spills over the past year.
East Runton beach had to be closed to the public as a result of a sewage pollution incident last June, with problems running on for several days.
Both East and West Runton beaches currently hold Blue Flag status, which now could be threatened as a result of the sewage spills.
North Norfolk District Council is keen to maintain its Blue Flag beaches, encouraging thousands of tourists to visit the region every year.
Tim Adams, the leader of the Council said: "This proves there is still an awful lot of infrastructure work needed.
“We have been concerned about our Blue Flag beaches and about Mundesley and West Runton particularly.
“We have had a few pollution incidents there recently and are often called out to that location.”
Anglian Water says that it will spend £1 billion to tackle sewage spills, as part of a £11 billion initiative to improve its service.
"We know our customers will be disappointed to see an increase in our storm overflow data this year," a spokeswoman said.
“This is largely reflective of the extreme weather and persistent flooding we saw across our region in the first part of 2024, which accounted for nearly 50pc of our spills.
“We have promised transformational action – because we know our climate is going to keep changing, so we have to find better ways of dealing with extreme rainfall.”