The most polluted beaches in England have been revealed after relentless sewage dumping by water companies.
Beaches have been left in a sorry state, and to make matters worse new rules to permit sewage to be dumped into rivers for 15 more years were voted through by an overwhelming majority of Tory MPs earlier this year.
In January Anglian Water was slapped with a £510,000 fine after raw sewage was discharged into a river for 23 hours killing 5,000 fish, the Environment Agency said.
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About six million litres of raw sewage was pumped into the Great Ouse at Brackley, Northamptonshire, during the incident, the Mirror reports.
Taking a trip to the beach will likely be on the horizon for many now, with summer just around the corner. But for those who love nothing more than having a dip in the sea, it could be that your favourite coastline is pretty grim.
None of Merseyside's beaches feature on the map, however some hotspots that are visited by many from Liverpool are, for example Blackpool's north beach.
Our interactive map lets you find beaches where pollution levels have reached the point where swimming could become dangerous. Not only does it tell you if getting in the water in those spots is advised against, it lets you know if it has lost its Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs designated swimming zone status.
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