A POPULAR beach with tourists and residents is set to be cordoned off for much of the winter after damaged pipes caused sewage to be dumped on the sand.

South West Water this week confirmed that the 40-year-old pipes at Hannafore Beach in West Looe will be replaced this winter in a £700,000 makeover designed to reduce the likelihood of any similar sewage leaks happening.

A spokeswoman for South West Water, who own and run the pipes, said: 'We are well aware of ongoing problems at Hannafore particularly following spells of intense rainfall when surface water draining into the sewer system can cause overflows at the pumping station.

'We are discussing a technical solution with the Environment Agency, which would separate surface water and sewage discharges.

'Work was done last year to try and mitigate the problems when they do occur. We can only apologise if these problems are still recurring but we are working towards a long term solution.'

Disgusted

West Looe resident Jerry Gould, who took our picture, said he was disgusted that sewage has been dumped on the beach for the last two weeks.

He said: 'You can smell it – particularly after a hot spell – and it is disgusting. There are holidaymakers coming down here and after a long car ride the kids all want to go down to the beach. They play around a "water fountain" on the beach, and the parents don't stop them because they don't realise it is sewage.'

South West Water hopes to start improvement works on site at the beginning of October.

RYAN HOOPER