"It stinks!": Southern Water's new pollution alert system to combat summer of sewage dumping criticised by Lewes Liberal Democrats

James MacCleary, Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for the Lewes constituency, condemned the move which will see a reduction in the number of red alerts resulting from sewage releases.

Mr MacCleary said: “The government had a chance to take firm action on sewage dumping, but instead chose to let the water companies off the hook.

"Now we are seeing the consequences as Southern Water have immediately moved to reduce the amount of information readily available on sewage dumping."

Southern Water’s Beachbuoy application, which provides the public with near-real time information about storm release activity for coastal bathing waters, has been recently updated to provide a more ‘accurate’ picture of the impact of storm overflows along the south coast.

The water supplier said the app will now consider the impact a release has on a local bathing water based on the location of the outfall, the duration of the release and tidal conditions at the time.

Beachbuoy did not previously account for tidal conditions and duration, which Southern Water says led the app to cautiously taking the worst-case scenario, meaning it would flag bathing waters which caused ‘unnecessary’ worry for the public and the tourism industry alike.

Now if the outfall was a long way out to sea, the release was short and the tidal conditions meant there could be no impact on bathing water, Southern Water says the tool will no longer trigger a warning to users.

Martin William, Beachbuoy Product Owner at Southern Water said: “This is an important step for the tool, ensuring we provide accurate, fair and clear information to wild swimmers, kayakers, paddleboarders and all users of the beautiful beaches across our region.

“Beachbuoy is leading the way in providing near-real time data about storm releases, but we must ensure it goes further to inform the public about the impacts to the watercourse and not limit their enjoyment of their local bathing water.

"We’ll never hide data though, will all releases still available on the website.”

However, Mr MacCleary believes the changes are a move by the water supplier to halt automatic flagging of all raw sewage releases into bathing waters via storm overflows.

People in Seaford were left shocked on August 17 this year, when footage of raw sewage being pumped into the sea off Splash Point was published online.

Over the last month, there have been numerous incidents of untreated sewage water being pumped into the sea on the south coast, as people were told to stay away from local beaches.

Pollution warnings were put in place along the coastline as Southern Water discharged overflows to protect homes, schools, businesses and hospitals from flooding.

The Liberal Democrats believe the Government’s actions on this issue has not been forceful enough.

Mr MacCleary continued: “I have been contacted by so many residents in Seaford and elsewhere who cannot believe that local MP, Maria Caulfield, voted against taking immediate action to force water companies to stop dumping raw sewage in our rivers and seas.

"The whole thing stinks in every way and I will continue to speak out on behalf of residents on the issue.”