An under-fire utility company has blamed its poor water quality on seagull poo.

Southern Water has claimed seagull waste could be the reason why tests had shown a drop in water quality.

The drop in water quality led to the Environment Agency issuing a warning to people not to swim in the area.

Portsmouth Council said they were currently investigating the problem with Southern Water and are looking at other potential reasons for the problem.

It is also looking at the company’s sewage outfall at Canoe Lake and leaks from other pipes.

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In a statement, Southern Water said: “Seagulls are roosting under the pier which can be a problem.

“We have to speciate the E.coli; by looking at the samples we can find out the type of animal source it comes from.”

Meanwhile, Portsmouth Council said the impact of the release of sewage by Southern Water was an “obvious and very serious concern”.

It added that no overflows had been detected in the immediate area where people were swimming.

Southern Water said the only outfall which could have impacted water quality was five kilometres from the beach but was not ruling it out as the reason for the decline in water quality.

The company has been under fire in recent years for high pollution levels. Last year it was given one star out of five by the Environment Agency for environmental performance.

A spokesperson said they took any decline in water quality seriously and that private sewer pipes could also be to blame.

They said: “We take any decline to water quality in our region extremely seriously, and have been working closely with the Environment Agency and Portsmouth City Council for more than a decade to tackle concerns in this area.”

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It added: “Over this time, leaking ageing sewers have been identified as one contributing factor, prompting a major upgrade programme involving sealing pipes with special polymer linings and ensuring manholes are watertight.

“We are continuing to support our partners in finding solutions, and are actively carrying out water quality sampling tests to help direct further investigations and action.”

In a statement, the Environment Agency said the water quality could have been caused by contaminated groundwater.

They said they remained “committed” to improving water quality and that the majority of the UK’s bathing waters were “excellent.”

A spokesperson for the company said: “We continue to work together with Portsmouth City Council and Southern Water to fully investigate the reasons for the decline in bathing water quality at Southsea East.

“All agencies involved are working to identify, remove and reduce sources of pollution to ensure that the status of this bathing water improves. The pollution sources appear to be localised and possibly coming from contaminated groundwater.

“Together with our partners, we remain committed to improving water quality at our beaches.

“The vast majority of our nation’s bathing waters are classified as excellent and nearly all are compliant with bathing water standards.”

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