A protest against raw sewage discharges was held on Exmouth seafront on Saturday (28 January).

Attended by environmental activists and local swimmers as part of a national day of action organised by Extinction Rebellion, the event also saw a fake 'blue plaque' brought to East Devon MP Simon Jupp's constituency office calling on him to "stand up to South West Water and protect Exmouth from sewage".

At Exmouth beach, over 1,100 hours of raw sewage was discharged in 2021.

Local swimmer Mary Culhane said: "As year-round swimmers we're taking risks entering the water – the situation is so bad that last year Exmouth was ranked as the second-worst Blue Flag beach for sewage spills in Devon, with the beach closed to swimmers in September."

Cllr Joe Whibley (Independent, Exmouth Town) said: "This is an awful situation for our environment, not to mention the fact that it could devastate our growing watersports-related tourism ventures.

"We're horrified every time a BBC crew turns up to report on the state of the waters.

"And South West Water have so far offered nothing quick and nothing concrete.

"Together with the Environment Agency, we need our representatives to create tougher standards for what is, and more importantly what isn't, acceptable."

"I would never vote to pollute our water" - Simon Jupp MP

The national action also saw other Conservative MPs targeted who voted to remove a section of an amendment to a bill (now the Environment Act 2021) which included putting a duty on "sewerage undertakers to take all reasonable steps to ensure untreated sewage is not discharged from storm overflows".

At the time, Simon Jupp issued a statement saying it would be "a misleading and ludicrous accusation" to say he supported raw sewage going into the sea.

Simon Jupp, MP for East Devon, told Nub News in response to Saturday's protest: "I recently met with some of the campaigners who were involved in this protest and we've started working together to hold South West Water to account.

"I would never vote to pollute our water, despite some politically motivated claims suggesting otherwise.

"I'm from Devon, I live near the sea in Sidmouth, and I love where we live.

"If campaigners truly want to hold South West Water's feet to the fire over their failures, I'd encourage them to put down their placards and work with me.

"I will continue to work with local groups and councils to get South West Water to clean up their act."

Response from South West Water

A South West Water spokesperson said: "We are committed to reducing our use of storm overflows and we have already made good progress in this area, with a 50% reduction in spills during the 2022 bathing season, compared to the previous year.

"We are investing £330 million in our wastewater network to dramatically reduce our use of storm overflows by 2025.

"In terms of beaches, it was recently announced that 100% our bathing waters in the South West have met water quality standards for the second consecutive year running.

"As assessed by the Environment Agency, 99% of bathing waters in the region were rated as 'Good' or 'Excellent' for 2022, compared to just 28% in 1991. This shows the progress we have already made.

"Importantly, bathing water quality at Exmouth beach has been rated as 'Excellent' in the last four classifications by the Environment Agency.

"We are currently investing in a number of schemes in Exmouth to prevent surface water entering the sewer network and to reduce spills. All overflows in Exmouth are currently included in plans to be improved to achieve less than 10 spills per year by the end of 2030."

SEE ALSO: Exclusive: New data reveals when raw sewage discharges happen at Exmouth beach

Activists don swimming gear as South West Water boss challenged on raw sewage at Exmouth Town Council