Brown mass spotted floating off Llandudno but sewage claim denied
A resident has taken this video of a brown mass floating off Llandudno's North Shore. The material appeared to be a sewage outflow to Victor Peeke from Llandudno from who took the image and shot the video footage last week.
Mr Peeke told North Wales Live earlier this week: "Would you let your children swim in that s**t? Llandudno certainly won’t qualify for best beach or water quality in Wales. I’d be (prosecuted) if I threw a plastic bag in there. Please North Wales Live, publicise and keep publicising this...."
But Natural Resources Wales today insisted the strange substance was not sewage but was in fact marine algae. Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox.
Read more: Caravans and cabins across North Wales used to stash crime gangs' drugs and weapons
Read more: 'Great news' as second home tax rise sees results for Welsh council
An NRW spokesperson said: “We are aware of reports of discoloration in the water in the North Shore area of Llandudno. We currently believe the discoloration to be marine algae, which can present itself along the coast during warmer temperatures.
“To ensure we can fully investigate incidents we encourage people to report them to us via our 24-hour hotline on 0300 065 3000 or through our online ‘report it’ form as soon as they are witnessed.”
But Mr Peeke felt in general terms that waste was being discharged into the sea too often. He said: "The dumping of effluent is ‘legally permitted during heavy rainfall'."
But he claimed it was also discharged even when it was not raining.
As one of the UK's top tourist destination's the last thing Llandudno needed was a "filthy" sea and beach. North Wales Live Whatsapp community for top stories and breaking news is live now - here’s how to sign up
Dwr Cymru/Welsh Water said its storm overflows were not in operation on Friday. A spokesman said: "We have no waste assets that lead directly to Llandudno North Shore and none of our storm overflows nearby were in operation on that day."
Find out what's going on near you