Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of water quality at Lyme Regis Church Cliff Beach on public health.

Through the PR24 process the Environment Agency (EA) has secured the following work by South West Water to improve the quality at Church Cliff Beach:

Uplyme sewage treatment works and Gun Cliff sewage pumping station will be fitted with flow monitoring equipment, Uplyme storm sewage tanks will be improved to reduce stills, the Cobb sewage pumping station will be improved, two combined sewage overflows (CSO) will be investigated and assessed in relation to the possible impact on water quality, five further CSOs will be improved to meet the bathing water standard of no more than 2 spills per bathing season.

An investigation will be undertaken to confirm the benefits of these works for Church Cliff beach.

Lyme Regis Town Council, working with the EA, has set up a Water Quality Group to oversee improvements in the bathing water quality at Church Cliff beach.