A leaked document intended only for UK MEP's has revealed that the Government are using the publics continued use of the nations beaches as justification for not driving in tighter health standards for bathing water quality.

The document has outraged Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) as the statement seems to be based on little more than a straw poll within DEFRA's water quality division - some of whom probably never even visit the UK's beaches.

DEFRA has told MEP's that "real world evidence of the sustained popularity of bathing suggests that the risk of illness is not a significant public concern".

Richard Hardy says "SAS would welcome DEFRA's policy makers to spend the day with them 'in and out' of the water at one of the UK's many beaches where raw or partially treated sewage continues to be discharged into the bathing zones. Perhaps we would then see how far away they are from the 'real world' in making these kind of assumptions".

Whilst UK beaches remain popular for tourism, not everyone using the beach is prepared to actually enter the water and 'bathe' - especially those with young families.

Common sewage related illnesses, such as gastro-enteritis have featured heavily on SAS's own medical database that features over 800 cases of sickness or illness related to bathing water quality. Tourists often fail to make the link between this kind of illness and poor bathing water quality and GP's may not always identify this illness from someone using the sea when they could also put it down to some 'dodgy' food! SAS believe these are two explanations why so few bathing related illnesses currently show up in the UK's public health surveillance data.

With little public information provided to bathers or water-users at UK beaches, especially the kind of information that tells them the location of sewage outfalls or overflow pipes discharging into a bathing water - the UK's beaches will continue to remain popular but a place of 'misinformation and confusion'. It is clear that the present situation prevents the public from having the necessary information available to make an informed choice on whether or not they should use a particular bathing water.

Personal income also derives that a lot of UK families will spend time at the UK's beaches as they are unable to afford foreign holidays where water quality will often be better than in the UK. An average of 86% of EU bathing waters meet guideline water quality standards, whereas in the UK the rate is 76%.

The Government are also urging MEP's not to support tighter micro-biological standards, believing them to be too strict, despite the fact that the lower of the two proposed standards would still allow for 1 in 20 chance of a bather contracting gastro-enteritis from bathing at a government passed beach in the UK! (World Health Organisation research).

MEP's will soon be faced with the decision on whether or not to improve bathing water quality during the current revision of the Bathing Water Directive. The legislation is 26 years out of date and needs a radical overhaul if it is to truly protect bathers and water users at the UK's beaches. It's a scandal that the Government have chosen to belittle a chance for change and to make Britain's beaches the cleanest and safest in the world.

For further information please contact Richard Hardy or Vicky Garner on Tel: 01872 553001 or Mobile: 07817 401480.www.sas.org.uk

SAS have launched a 'It Could Be You Minister' campaign that urges the UK's Water Minister, Elliot Morley to get behind surfers' calls for clean water!

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