Environmentalists have warned of the impact of storms on delicate marine habitats in South East Cornwall.

In Cawsand Bay a ‘red sea’ has been seen as a result of prolonged heavy rain falling onto already waterlogged fields.

Layers of topsoil have been washed down off the steep fields and into the sea.

Not only does this process degrade the agricultural land, the soil later settling onto the seabed has a negative impact on the seagrass beds in the bay.

‘Roads and streams all over the Rame Peninsula have regularly been running with red, gushing floods of mud from our steep-sided valleys and it all washes out to sea,’ said a spokesperson.

‘It settles on the protected seagrass beds in the bay which are already assessed to be in unfavourable condition. Seagrass is not only a crucial habitat for juvenile fish, but is also, if healthy, a much more effective carbon store even than trees, hence ongoing efforts to harvest seagrass seeds and plant or restore it around the UK coast.’