PHOTO OPPORTUNITY: 20 toilets, lined up along the waters' edge on Brighton's main beach - every loo will be occupied by a seated protestor.
Date: Wednesday 8th August 2001
Time: 11.30 am
Location: On the beach, at the water's edge, opposite the Old Ship Hotel (31 Kings Road), BRIGHTON. Brighton's beaches; sun, sea, sand and SEWAGE.

As a heatwave swept Britain last week, the resort of Brighton made front page news, with tens of thousands flocking to its beaches. Who would have thought that an innocent dip in the sea could result in a close encounter with the contents of a toilet bowl? SAS ask, when will Southern Water deal with the raw sewage outfall that still blights the resort and leaves the UK open to legal action?

Surfers Against Sewage will today be staging a 'sitting protest' on Brighton's main beach. The group are calling on Southern Water to clean up their act and deal with the city's raw sewage outfall that not only presents a potential health risk to water users, but also means the UK is in breach of European legislation. To highlight this unacceptable situation, SAS have decided to cut out the middleman and take their loos straight to the waters edge!

With a population of 275,000 and a thriving beach and water sports scene, it may come as a surprise that all sewage from the city of Brighton is currently discharged into the sea without treatment. On December 31st 2000, the discharge became illegal in the eyes of the European Commission, yet Southern Water are still to come up with a sewage treatment scheme for the resort - leaving the UK open to legal action.

SAS call for the full treatment of sewage at all times and in all places and Brighton is no exception to the rule. Every other major seaside resort in the UK has a sewage treatment scheme either up and running or planned, yet a solution for Brighton has still not appeared - Southern Water are saying it will be 10 years before anything is in place! With water quality and beach cleanliness high on the public's agenda, the consequences for the local tourist industry are obvious.

Vicky Garner of SAS said today;
" Whilst some may be questioning our sanity, we are simply creating an image that reflects reality in Brighton! Southern Water collects the contents of the city's toilet bowls, mixes it all together and pumps the stuff out to sea. We thought we'd cut out the middle man, save Southern Water the time and money and take our loo's to the waters edge!"
"Despite two European Directives nudging them in the right direction, a Public Inquiry and huge sums of customers money, Southern Water appear to be either unable or unwilling to find a solution that suits everyone involved. Are the company bankrupt of ideas?"