England’s top beaches faced 8,500 hours of sewage dumping last year, study says

Brighton beach, which attracts large crowds every summer, was hit with discharged sewage 45 times last year, the analysis found. Photograph: Aaron Chown/PA Media

England’s most celebrated beaches faced 8,500 hours of sewage dumping last year, new figures show.

Many beaches with blue flag status– an international mark of recognition that a beach is deemed safe and has good water quality – were found to have been covered in waste over the last 12 months.