If it’s not the wrong sort of rain it must be the wrong sort of seagull poo. – Owl

Seagulls roosting under a pier could be to blame for a fall in water quality at a Portsmouth beach, according to a water company.

Adam Vaughan www.thetimes.co.uk

Portsmouth city council said this week it was working with the Environment Agency and Southern Water to investigate why water quality was deteriorating at a section of the beach at Southsea.

Quality at Southsea East declined from “excellent” in 2019 to “sufficient” last year, but officials fear bathing water tests this summer could result in it being classified as “poor” when this year’s results are released in November.

A poor rating would mean that swimmers would be advised against entering the water next year.

Southern Water said it took the decline “extremely seriously” and had been trying for more than a decade to tackle concerns in the area.

“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.

“Other contributing factors include surface water run-off from roads and pavements, wildlife such as seagulls roosting beneath the pier and private sewer pipes wrongly connected to surface drains,” the company said in a statement.

Testing will be undertaken to establish whether gulls’ droppings are playing a role. Water testing by the company at Brighton Central beach last year found seabirds were an important source of pollution.

A spokesman for Southern Water said: “By looking at the samples we can find out the type of animal source it comes from.”

Southern Water used falconers with hawks to scare off seagulls at Worthing beach four years ago, much as a hawk is used to keep pigeons away from the Wimbledon tennis tournament each summer. The company ended the practice following local anger.

Southern Water’s environmental performance last year was ranked as two out of four stars — joint bottom for the industry — but up on the one star it achieved in 2021.

It is facing a private prosecution this week from the angling group Fish Legal over pollution of the River Test. The case relates to diesel from a tenant on an industrial estate which reached the river via a surface water drain owned by Southern Water. A company spokesman said: “An Environment Agency investigation into the cause of the incident and the identity of the polluters is ongoing.”