Where you should stay out of the water after weekend brings sewage discharges to Torbay

Warnings were also put in place across many other beaches across Devon and beyond. Areas of the River Dart that are monitored have also been affected by sewage pollution as well as large areas of North Devon and Cornwall.

South West Water's data indicates that there is currently no further discharges occurring locally.

The pollution was a result of recent heavy rain, overwhelming the system and triggering South West Water to discharge raw sewage into the sea to prevent it from backing up in the pipes and spilling back into the homes and businesses that created it.

In this case, the sewage spills are legal and regulated.

While the use of these sewage overflows is common and usually permitted by the Environment Agency, there has been widespread criticism around the frequency and necessity of their use. South West Water was the second worst for their use of sewage overflows in 2022, pumping raw sewage into the South West’s waterways for over 290,000 hours.

A SWW spokesperson has previously said: "WaterFit is our plan to protect rivers and seas together. WaterFit will dramatically reduce our use of storm overflows, maintain our region’s excellent bathing water quality standards all year round and reduce and then remove our impact on river water quality by 2030.

"Working with partners and customers WaterFit will begin to deliver the change we all want to see."

Surfers Against Sewage has advised against swimming at the following beaches: