This time last year, dozens of competitors in the British leg of the world triathlon championship series fell ill after swimming off Roker beach in Sunderland. The bouts of sickness have led to angry disputes between locals, politicians and Northumbrian Water into just how clean this stretch of North Sea coastline actually is.
Northumbrian claimed that it was not guilty of accusations of sewage discharges up the coast at Whitburn, but subsequent freedom of information requests revealed that in 2023 a million tonnes of effluence found its way into the water. Last month Northumbrian admitted that sewage had been discharged, affecting 17 bathing spots, as a result of storm overflows. The company said that it had disclosed the information so that the public could make