£40m investment to improve quality of seawater at Bridlington's beaches

RESIDENTS are being urged to attend a public drop-in to find out about the impact of a £40 million investment to improve the quality of sea water at Bridlington.

A new pumping station, a new sewer system and improvements to the existing system are among the plans by Yorkshire Water.

It is hoped the changes will bring the north and south beaches in line with new European directives, which will see UK beaches subject to much stricter water quality tests.

Residents and businesses are being invited to find out more about the scheme and how it will be constructed by coming along to a public drop-in event on Thursday, from 3pm to 7pm, at The Spa, Bridlington.

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Duncan Warner, Yorkshire Water project manager, said: "We've employed highly experienced specialists to carry out this vital work in Bridlington and we'd like to encourage residents to come and talk to us at the drop-in event we're hosting.

"Investing in the highest standard of bathing water quality will bring a wide range of benefits to Bridlington.

"Of course, this will mean some construction work in the short-term but we hope people will recognise the longer-term benefits of this scheme."

The project will see Morgan Sindall Grontmij undertake major work at five sites in Bridlington.

Palace Car Park, Hilderthorpe Road, South Marine Drive, Princess Mary Promenade and the waste water treatment works off Kingsgate will be affected.

A storm water tunnel more than 2m wide and 800m long will be excavated mainly under local roads.

A new storm water pumping station will be constructed and improvements will be made to an existing pumping station.

Sylvia Wright, secretary of the Bridlington Tourism Association, is praising the investment.

She said: "We are really pleased with the investment. Cleaner bathing water will definitely have an impact on the amount of visitors to the town."

It is hoped the work will help Bridlington's South Beach achieve Blue Flag status – which involves beaches complying with a number of criteria covering environmental education and information, water quality, environmental management, safety and services.

Beaches in Bridlington, Withernsea and Hornsea had originally achieved the Blue Flag status this year.

However, Bridlington South had to take down the flag last month when the water quality was found not to meet the standards of water quality needed.

The downgrade was blamed on extreme rainfall experienced over the summer.

At the time, a Yorkshire Water spokesman said the wet weather resulted in excess waste water from the town's sewerage system overflowing into the sea.

Mrs Wright, from Lincoln House in Bridlington, said: "Without the Blue Flag status we will not attract people to the town. It will have an impact.

"People are much more conscious about the bathing water quality. When I was a kid, we would just go into the sea."