Trust in Yorkshire Water at 'rockbottom' as surfers in Scarborough gear up for protest against sewage pollution

The survey of 4,000 adults in the UK for Surfers Against Sewage also found an overwhelming majority of people in Yorkshire and the Humber (87 per cent) support a ban on bonuses for chief executives of water firms who fail to adhere to minimum environmental standards.

It comes as volunteers backed by the charity prepare for a day of simultaneous protests across the country - including at Scarborough's South Bay where water quality is rated "poor" - meaning people are advised against bathing.

There's been a growing public backlash over the use of overflows by water companies, which were designed as a safety valve to ensure sewage does not back up into people’s homes when the system becomes inundated with heavy rainfall. But critics say the system has become so inadequate that they can be triggered with “pitiful” amounts of rainfall.

The survey showed nearly three-quarters (72 per cent) felt the government should be doing more to tackle sewage pollution.

An even bigger proportion (86 per cent) think regulators need to do more. At least 12 protests will take place across the UK.

Organiser of Scarborough’s protest, Steve Crawford, who runs a surf shop in South Bay hopes as many as 100 surfers, paddle-boarders and kayakers get involved on May 20.

In the resort up to six combined sewer outflows, which act as overflow valves to reduce the risk of sewage backing up during heavy rainfall, discharge into the sea. One of the worst pipes in the country, Mr Crawford says, is Scalby Mills Eastern Channel, a mile north of the bathing area. Just last month it discharged sewage half a dozen times for periods of between an hour and a half and up to ten hours.

He said he can’t understand why an investment of more than £50m by Yorkshire Water nearly a decade ago, which included building huge storage tanks to reduce the need to dump sewage into the sea, had not been more effective.

Mr Crawford, a member of Surfers Against Sewage, who was involved for years in working groups discussing the problem, said: “When you explain to people they are absolutely aghast – people are becoming more aware. We’d like to know why it doesn’t work – for some reason it has not solved it.”

Last week Labour failed to win support for legislation which would require water companies to reduce discharges from storm overflows by 90 per cent by the end of 2030 and impose automatic financial penalties for sewage dumping.

Josh Harris, from SAS, condemned “shameless profiteering” by firms who paid out a combined £1bn to shareholders while dumping sewage almost 400,000 times in the sea. The Government and regulators also had to enforce high standards and hold firms to account, he said, adding: "We’ve suffered decades of broken sewers because of our broken system, and now the public have had enough and are demanding an to end this sewage scandal.”

During last year’s drought, Yorkshire Water recorded a 43 per cent fall in the length of time sewage was allowed to spill into waterways, from 406,131 hours to 232,054 hours.

A spokesperson said: “A £180m storm overflow improvement plan is already in motion, which will invest in the overflows we know are operating more than others.

"In the next few months, we’ll be starting work on the first 90 of those overflows and creating extra storage in the system to hold water back and stop it from discharging. This is in addition to the £147m we already planned to spend before the end of 2025 as outlined in our business plans.”

He said they were “going beyond” the government’s storm overflow reduction plan and were planning their largest ever environmental investment programme between 2025 and 2030.

The Bathing Water Partnership, which includes Environment Agency, North Yorkshire Council and Yorkshire Water, said they were determined to improve the situation at Bridlington South, also rated poor, and Scarborough South Bay. The other beaches in Yorkshire were judged good or excellent.