MP row breaks out over ‘misleading’ raw sewage in Morecambe Bay claims

A political row has also broken out over analysis the Liberal Democrats say they have carried out.

They say sewage was dumped into waters containing shellfish 29,000 times last year.

The longest sewage dump event last year took place at Morecambe Bay by United Utilities and lasted 5,000 hours, they claimed.

And the party raised fears this could be taking place again this summer.

It follows reports last week that swimmers found themselves bathing amongst raw sewage in the sea off Morecambe and Heysham.

The Environment Agency's Swimfo app is advising against bathing at Morecambe North beach today, Tuesday.

There were similar warnings at the weekend for both Morecambe South and North beaches.

At present, waste can be released from the sewage system and into the nation’s rivers and coastal waters when there is heavy rainfall to avoid the sewage backing up into people’s homes.

Tim Farron, Liberal Democrat spokesman for the Environment and MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, said: "The past week we’ve seen our beaches closed because of these polluting water companies.

“Why aren't Government ministers listening to the public on this? They are ignoring the country's outrage at this scandal.

“Conservative MPs voted against a ban on sewage dumping. That means right now water companies are still pumping disgusting sewage into the homes of shellfish.”

Lancaster MP Cat Smith has also written to United Utilities to outline her concerns.

She asked if water quality tests had been carried out following these incidents, how often raw sewage was discharged into the bay and if there were any plans to reduce or stop these discharges.

"I am highly concerned to read of various reports of individuals swimming past human excrement,” she said. “Not only is this blatantly unsafe for swimmers, it will also inflict untold damage on the wildlife which Morecambe Bay supports.”

However, both Morecambe MP David Morris and United Utilities - who provide water and wastewater services in the north west - have slammed the Lib Dem study.

Local Conservatives say the Lib Dem figures were of storm flood water in the whole United Utilities area of Lancashire and Cumbria and were released in 2021, now more than a year old.

Morecambe MP David Morris also questioned the claim and asked the House of Commons library to investigate. They stated it was not raw sewage but storm water, he said.

He said: "To state it’s raw sewage and not rain water seems to be a bad case of gutter politics.”.

A spokesperson for United Utilities said: “The discharge figure quoted by the Liberal Democrats is incorrect and misleading.

“The impression given, that one single discharge lasting 5,000 plus hours was released directly on to the beach at Morecambe South, is wrong,” they said.

“The figures are a summation of storm overflow spills at multiple sites around Lancashire and Cumbria which feed into river catchments which could have an impact on Morecambe South bathing water.

“The north west coastline has seen billions of pounds of water company investment over the last 30 years meaning that bathing waters are now cleaner than they have ever been.”

“Across the region, 93 per cent of bathing waters were classified as Good or Excellent in 2021 and all met the designated minimum standards. Morecambe South is classified currently as Good (as is Morecambe North).

“We are already committed to a programme of action for further improvements, and we are spending £230m over the next three years to reduce the impact of storm overflows.”