Cornish surfing competition suspended over sewage
Sunday's event was cancelled due to a release at Porthtowan
Organisers of a major surfing competition in Cornwall say they're devastated after having to cancel the second day yesterday, due to a sewage discharge.
Surfing England say the contest had to be stopped for health and safety reasons after lifeguards red flagged the beach at Porthtowan.
They say conditions were perfect for the 140 competitors who'd travelled to the Duchy from around the country for the Interclub Championship - and many were actually in the water when the alert was raised.
A statement says: "As proud members of the Clean Water Sports Alliance, and in partnership with Surfers Against Sewage—who were also running a beach clean at the contest—we continue to call on the government to take urgent action on water pollution. Having to cut short such a major event only underlines the importance of ensuring our waters are safe and clean for everyone. "
In response South West Water say it happened due to heavy rainfall and was within the rules, they've posted on social media in response to complaints: "Our storm overflow at Porthtowan activated this morning in line with its permits following heavy rainfall in the area.
"We are serious about tackling storm overflows and change of this scale takes time, ambition, and increased investment. We are working hard to actively reduce our use of storm overflows across the region as part of our £3.2 billion investment programme.
There is more to do and we are moving in the right direction driven by our determination to deliver on our customers' priorities."
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