Protesters paddle out in Hastings against local sewage pollution

As part of a nationwide ‘Paddle-Out’ protest organised by Surfers Against Sewage (SOS), the local event was coordinated by Amanda Jobson from Plastic Free Hastings, along with Colin Darbyshire.

Amanda said: "This is a national paddle out, a call to action to end sewage pollution. That's really important in these times of a new water bill, which is going through Parliament in the next couple of months, and we're saying we must put people before profit, and things have to change, the system has to change.

"We want a better infrastructure, no more sewage outflows. That's a really important message for central government and the water companies: to put people before profiteering. It's so important to keep our coastline clean for the wildlife, for our fishing industry, for the people of Hastings and St Leonards, for businesses, for tourism, and for our environment. We hope that our message gets back to the central government, and they are listening, and the water companies as well."

Helena Dollimore, MP for Hastings and Rye, also attended. She said: "Before I came into Parliament, I worked in water and sanitation in the developing world, also in refugee camps. I never thought the sort of things I saw there and the experiences people had there would be seen in 2026 Britain. The things we saw exposed in Dirty Business (the TV series) and the tragedies we saw there are completely unacceptable, and it has got to stop.

"We need to make people understand, yes, this is about enjoying our sea. Yes, this is about being able to swim without fear of an eye infection or worse.

"But actually, this goes much further than that. This is about our seaside economies. This is about the impact on tourism. This is about the local businesses that were flooded in the town centre. This is about the impact of the water outages that have caused so much chaos. And we will not stand for it.

"We will not stop until we get results and we have water that is safe for us. Clean and affordable for everyone to enjoy. So thank you to everyone for being here, thank you for caring. Let's keep going, and let's show Southern Water and the rest of them, they're not going to get away with it."

Surfers Against Sewage was founded in 1990 in St. Agnes and Porthtowan, Cornwall. The organisation has grown into one of the UK's most successful marine conservation and campaigning charities.