Seething residents say “there is always an excuse” after Southern Water blamed heavy rainfall on almost 20 sewage releases over the past month near Herne Bay.

Traders are furious that visitor numbers to the town this summer have dropped and feel the ongoing saga involving the water company has contributed to the lack of business.

Almost all of the releases came from the nearby Swalecliffe outfall and one at the overflow pipe near Gainsborough Drive.

Since July 4, there have been 19 releases with four of these reportedly impacting water quality in the Herne Bay bathing area.

The overflows are designed to legally discharge excess sewage and rainwater into rivers and the sea when under strain to prevent sewers from becoming overloaded and backing up into homes.

Southern Water says the releases are made up of 95% rainwater and are permitted by the Environment Agency.

The firm blamed the recent spate of releases near Herne Bay on heavy rainfall.

Data recorded by the Met Office show the Manston weather station recorded 82mm of rain last month, compared with 8.4mm at the same time last year.

But Hassan Hassan, who runs Makcari’s in Herne Bay, says the reason given for the latest releases in the town by Southern Water “is really not good enough”.

“When we had a dry spell for God knows how long and they released, there was no rain. There is always an excuse.”

In May, fed-up traders blasted Southern Water for pumping sewage into the sea over a dry weekend, saying it is the “same s***, different day – literally”.

The firm discharged from an overflow pipe into bathing areas covering Herne Bay, Whitstable and Tankerton overnight, blaming a “technical failure” at a pumping station.

Mr Hassan added: “The weather has not helped, however, there have been a few nice days and I can count the number of people there on my hand.

“I have been on the seafront for the past 18 years and I have never seen the numbers like this.

“You could argue there are a number of factors, such as the cost of parking going up, Covid, inflation and restrictions on jet skiers, but [sewage releases] are a major one and it is killing us.”

He is now considering closing Makcaris on the Corner from Monday to Thursday due to the lack of footfall.

Southern Water has been criticised over a series of wastewater releases in recent years and was named among the worst-performing companies by Ofwat in 2022.

In 2021, it was fined a record £90m for dumping billions of litres of raw sewage into the sea at 17 sites, with various spillages around the east Kent coast.

Last month, Canterbury City Council passed a motion to prepare a report to cabinet in a year on the implications of possible actions and projects that would improve local seawater quality and lead to ocean recovery in Canterbury and its coastal communities.

Cllr Tom Mellish, who proposed the motion, says he is concerned about the impact the releases are having on the town’s traders.

“It is about the lack of investment,” the Labour councillor said.

“Discharging into the sea is not a new problem and has been going on for years.

“I cannot see why the collective mind of water companies cannot find a solution to this.

“The solution is investing which would prevent this from happening in the first place.”

And he believes the releases are damaging the “unique coastline” the Herne Bay area has.

“You have two miles of fantastic seafront between Hampton and Reculver,” he added.

“There is a beach, great marine life, Sites of Special Scientific Interest and biodiversity.

“The sewage is damaging these and the draw of our coastline.”

In Whitstable and the Herne Bay area, Southern Water has been installing water butts at homes near Tankerton beach in a bid to slow the flow of water entering its network.

The firm says it is investing an extra £50 million by spring 2025 to reduce the use of storm overflows in Whitstable, Deal and Margate by at least 20% in two years.

A spokesman for Southern Water said: “Increased rainfall can put extra pressure on our sewer network when large volumes of surface water enter the system.

“Early indications from the Met Office show that July had much higher rainfall compared to previous years.

“To stop homes, schools and businesses from flooding, our nation’s network of storm overflows act as a release value to temporarily relieve this pressure, allowing excess flows - typically made up of up to 95% rainwater - to enter rivers and the sea.

“This is permitted by the Environment Agency.

“While this is how the system is designed to work in weather like this, we know we need to continue to work hard to improve the network.

“This is going to take time, and we are now investing £3 billion (about £1,500 per household) between 2020 and 2025 – much of which will reduce the use of storm overflows, increase storage capacity and find ways to divert rain back to the environment naturally.”