Shortly after most of Thanet's beaches achieved blue flag status they have been set back to red flag.
Thanet District Council have announced a precautionary closure of Thanet beaches following a failure at the Southern Water Foreness Point Sewage Pumping Station resulting in a discharge onto the foreshore, Thanet District Council have (yesterday) taken the precautionary measure to close all Thanet beaches for bathing.
Members of the public are advised to stay landward of the high tide line and refrain from entering the water until further notice.
Beach cleaners and litter pickers are currently on site on the Thanet coastline whilst officers from the council and representatives from the Environment Agency and Southern Water Services fully assess the situation. It is likely that the precautionary measures will remain in force for a minimum of two days whilst this work is undertaken.
In the interest of public safety the council has placed red flags on beaches and RNLI Lifeguards are assisting in informing the public of the circumstances.
Jon Griffin, Senior Environment Officer with the Environment Agency said: The Environment Agency are carrying out a full investigation and are working with Southern Water Services and Thanet District Council to reduce the impact of the spillages as much as possible. We will continue to monitor the bathing water quality over the coming days and will advise Thanet District Council accordingly.
Further information is promised to be made available in due course.
