Campaigners gather outside South West Water headquarters to demonstrate against sewage pollution
Watch as protestors gather to demonstrate against sewage pollution outside South West Water
Dozens of protesters have gathered outside the headquarters of South West Water to demonstrate against its record on sewage pollution.
It comes as the water company was ranked among the worst performing water companies in the UK with the Environment Agency's assessment read "requires improvement".
South West Water discharged sewage into rivers and seas more than 58 thousand times last year.
Campaigners demonstrating outside the Annual General Meeting at the company's headquarters in Exeter said they've had enough of it.
One of those gathering was Ruth Fitzjohn who lives in Portreath on the north Cornwall coast. She likes to swim in the sea and said they live with constant sewage alert warnings on their local beach. "We're just fed up with South West Water," she said. "We're not part of an organised group. We're two carloads who set off for the 200 mile round trip from Portreath this morning. We're focusing on the poo in the sea because it's just disgraceful. It is absolutely not acceptable."
Jo Bateman, from Exmouth, has been fighting legal action against the company over its record on sewage. She tried to pay her water bill in coins but was turned away at the security cordon."It's not just about me. It's much, much more than that. It's about the whole planet. I think a lot of people don't realise how much polluting the seas affects every single one of us," she said.
"They're the most incredible, beautiful resource. And we all, every single one of us, whether we realise it or not, depend on them," Ms Bateman added.
There were also a number of campaigners from the action group Surfers Against Sewage.Spokesman Rob Abrams said: "There is just not the action to meet the words. And when it comes to the impact we're seeing in terms of the health of people and planet, words aren't good enough. We need actual action. We want to see change. We want to see money going into improving our infrastructure and not just into the pockets of the bosses at the top."South West Water's Corporate Affairs Director Cameron Brown said: "We're making improvements every single day. And as we speak, we have staff on the ground right now upgrading our infrastructure.
"We are investing, you know, hundreds of millions of pounds every single year to upgrade our infrastructure, to reduce storm overflows, to reduce pollutions. That will continue.
"It will accelerate over the coming years. But this isn't something that can happen overnight. We do understand the strength of feeling around this, and we are going to get to grips with it, but it does take time."