Sewage pumped into the sea along the west Dorset coast is ‘unacceptable’.

That’s according to Cllr Kelvin Clayton, Green Party councillor for Bridport.

His comments come after reports that five Dorset beaches were subject to sewage alerts after storms battered the county.

According to the Surfers Against Sewage website, which has an interactive map to track alerts, there were sewage overflow warnings at Eypemouth, Charmouth, Seatown, Chesil Cove and Weymouth Lodmoor.

The warnings are triggered when sewage has entered the water in the past 48 hours.

Cllr Clayton said: “I realise that the overflows are a result of stormy weather. But these storm frequencies are only going to increase as the climate changes. It is just not acceptable, is it? It is damaging to both sea life and human health.

“I thought we had moved beyond this. I grew up by the coast in Kent. As a teenager, I remember going swimming and seeing sewage float past me. I thought we had moved on from this and clearly, we haven’t.

“Storm frequency is going to increase as the climate changes so we need to be prepared for that.”

“The water companies doing it to stop foul sewage from going entering into domestic properties, fair enough we don’t want that to happen. But the result is not good, is it?”

Wessex Water says that the overflows are permitted by the Environment Agency and release mostly storm water, to prevent people’s homes from being flooded.

The company claims it spends £3 million a month to help reduce the frequency of discharges. It is part of a £150 million programme between 2022 and 2025.

It is the second time in a matter of weeks that there have been alerts in place in Dorset. In mid-October there were similar reports of sewage overspills on several beaches in Dorset.

The latest alerts followed heavy winds and rain that lashed the coast as Storm Claudio caused disruption across the region.

Dorset Council said more than 50 trees were partially or completely blown over onto roads such was the severity of the winds.

Fallen power lines caused disruption in West Bay on Tuesday morning. After a night of high winds that were estimated to reach up to 60mph according to the Met Office, police in Bridport were alerted to a fallen line outside St John’s Church shortly before 7.20am.

National Grid said it caused disruption to power supplies for 102 customers. The supply was back on by 10am.