‘Absolutely stinks’: Beachgoer's disgust as sewage filmed pouring into sea on Cornwall coast

Watch: Family ‘swims in excrement’ because signs too small to read

A man has shared a video highlighting his disgust at the sight of sewage pouring into the sea near a Cornish beach.

Video footage taken at Harlyn Beach in the south-west of England showed a storm overflow gushing into the ocean, resulting in excrement floating in the water.

South West Water has acknowledged "there is more to do" after the video emerged on Wednesday.

A man can be heard saying: "Back of Harlyn Sands, Padstow. Raw sewage, absolutely stinks.

“They've been down here the last four days testing it and trying to unblock it."

Discoloured water can clearly be seen at the point of discharge into the sea, while further pictures appear to show toilet waste in the area.

One beachgoer accused water companies of not making the signs – designed to warn swimmers of the waste – big enough to read.

One said: "I spent three hours on the phone trying to establish who triggers the lifeguards to put up the legal pollution signs.

"Yesterday and today sewage warnings online but no information at the actual beach itself. No signs in place.

“When asking the lifeguards about water quality I was told no calls had been made about it.”

The footage is the latest to highlight the issue of clean water in the UK's coastal areas.

Earlier this week, Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) shared a map that showed large parts of the Cornish coast were “rife with sewage pollution”.

They advised anyone wishing to enter the water to first check the Safer Seas and Rivers Service app that details live water quality alerts for over 450 river and coastal locations.

The group told Yahoo News UK: “Lapse regulation and profiteering water companies have put the UK in a sewage pollution crisis.

“Instead of investing in infrastructure, water companies lined shareholder pockets and gave huge bonuses to their chief executives.

Recent data from SAS showed 654 alerts of sewer overflows spilling sewage into bathing waters from 171 locations in England and Wales.

A spokesperson for South West Water said in response to the video taken on Harlyn beach that storm overflows are permitted following heavy rain and that they stop homes from flooding but added that it hopes to reduce their use.

Combined sewage overflows in the drainage network combine surface run-off with household sewage and can become overwhelmed during and after periods of heavy or extended rain.

Companies are then allowed to let them pour into the sea, including the raw sewage, to prevent it backing up into homes.

The spokesperson said: “Reducing the use of storm overflows is a priority. We know there is more to do, and that is why we are investing record levels to dramatically reduce the use of storm overflows and reduce our impact on rivers by one-third by 2025.”

South West Water was fined £2.1m in April for pollution and dumping sewage in Cornwall.

In May, water companies apologised for polluting England’s rivers and promised change, but admitted that the public will have to pay towards upgrading storm overflows for up to a century.