Southern Water has issued a statement apologising for the release of sewage in Margate during storms on Wednesday night last week.

The apology follows the aftermath of the major release of wastewater during the storms which resulted in the need for an extensive clean-up operation and saw 11 Margate beaches closed to swimmers.

Protesters are now demanding that the water company puts an end to sewage discharges.

In a statement, Southern Water said:

“No pollution is acceptable to us or our customers and we apologise for the impact the latest incident has had on local residents, businesses and the environment.”

“As part of the Government’s CSO Task Force we are committed to tackling this national and complex issue and we are leading the way with the publication of our comprehensive Pollution Incident Reduction Plan last year.”

However, the water company defended its action, saying it had to make the emergency release to protect local homes and businesses from internal flooding and that wastewater releases at times of heavy rainfall happened across the UK to protect properties from flooding.

Southern Water attributed the release that happened overnight on 16 June to a combination of heavy rainfall and lightning strike during the storms which caused a short power failure and affected systems on site at its Margate Water Pumping Station, where back-up generators were in place.

As part of its preparations for the predicted thunderstorms and heavy rainfall the utility also had a team standing by in the area. “These additional precautionary measures meant we were able to immediately begin work restoring the site to full operation,” Southern Water said.

Investigations into the incident are ongoing – the water company is continuing to work closely with the Environment Agency and Thanet District Council and to monitor the coastline and clean-up after each high tide.

A compensation scheme for businesses is available and business owners affected by the incident can make a claim.

Southern Water was fined £2 million in 2016 at Maidstone crown court after the same wastewater pumping station at Margate suffered a series of failures in 2012 leaving it unable to cope during a period of heavy rain and flooding beaches in Kent with raw sewage.