Yorkshire’s tourist economy should be in a for boost this summer but could be wrecked by sewage pollution in the sea - Andrew Vine

A stay-in-Britain summer ought to hold out the prospect of a major boost for Yorkshire’s tourist economy.

But shamefully, a good summer for our seaside towns and villages could be wrecked by a tide of filth swilling into the sea courtesy of a hugely profitable water company, an ineffective Government agency and what looks very like indifference on the part of ministers.

Prohibitions on going into the sea from some of our best and most popular beaches have effectively made them off-limits for families. Scarborough, Bridlington, Whitby and Hornsea have all had warning notices.

It defies belief that the activity that defines the great British seaside holiday – pioneered right here in Yorkshire by Scarborough – and beloved of generations ever since railways first made mass tourism to our coast possible in the mid-19th century should now, in 2023, simply not be possible because it might make bathers ill.

The consequences of this are already proving ruinous, as spelt out last week by surf school owner Steve Crawford, whose business has vanished overnight after 17 years since the red flags went up on Scarborough’s south beach telling people not to enter the water.

If mums and dads can’t let their children splash about, they won’t go to the seaside.

It’s as simple as that, and nobody can blame them.

And if the families don’t come during the peak six weeks of the school holidays, it could spell disaster for seaside businesses who have already suffered more than enough hardship.

It’s about time the public became a whole lot angrier about the scandal of pollution in the sea and rivers, demanding action from their MPs and pushing it right up the agenda of issues that will be debated at the next general election.

Livelihoods are at risk of being wrecked and some of our most precious natural resources despoiled.

Even as the rest of us try to do our bit to help the environment and protect it from harm, Yorkshire Water is dumping sewage into the sea and the Environment Agency fails to stop it.

The minister responsible, Environment Secretary Therese Coffey, has been utterly underwhelming in her response to months of pollution all over the country.

Too little has been done, even as the public has rallied behind local campaigns, such as that demanding action to clean up the River Wharfe at Ilkley, or those fronted by high-profile figures including comedian Paul Whitehouse and singer Feargal Sharkey.

It is a stain on the reputation of our region for valuing the environment that Yorkshire Water should be the second-worst water company for spilling untreated sewage into waterways last year, while making a profit of £240m.

The company’s boss, Nicola Shaw, announced earlier this year that she was waiving her bonus amid rising public anger at pollution.

Very magnanimous, but that won’t save Steve Crawford’s surf school on the beach at Scarborough, or any of the other businesses that might well see their takings fall if families stay away from the coast because they don’t want their children swimming in excrement.

It is all very well Yorkshire Water promising improvements at some point in the future, and issuing statements about how much has been invested in water treatment, but the fact remains our seas and rivers appear to be more polluted than they have been in decades.

This amounts to a failure by water companies in their duty to the environment and those who are concerned about it, and a failure by ministers and the Environment Agency to regulate them closely enough.

A much harder line needs to be taken by the Government to reflect public anger.

Unlike with other privatised utilities, such as power, customers can’t express their displeasure with a water company’s performance by changing their supplier.