CONCERNS have been raised about water quality at a beach after a 137-hour storm release into the water.

Elaine Johnson has lived in Lee-on-the-Solent since 1987 and walks along Lee beach regularly.

She raised concerns about the "murky" water which she said looks like a "bad latte".

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She said: "I’ve never seen it that bad in all the years I’ve lived here.

"The way I would describe it is probably a bad latte – it was very murky, there was froth and it smelled very bad as well.

"So often when we’ve been down there the water has been absolutely gorgeous.

"We used to have stuff washed up on the beach but I’ve never seen water quality like that in living memory and I’m down there most days.

"I went online and sent Southern Water a message through their website and I haven’t heard anything from them.

"I’m not happy – we’re paying a lot of money for our water, they’re making vast profits, as are a lot of these companies, which is going to shareholders and the investment is not being put into the infrastructure.

"At the moment the regulations are that they are allowed to discharge a certain amount which is wrong so we need to change the law and we also need money not being pumped into, excuse the pun, the shareholders.

"We need investment that will improve the situation, people could get hepatitis – these private companies need to be more accountable."

Gosport Borough Councillor John Gledhill, member for Lee West said: ‘It’s a Southern Water issue, there’s nothing the local council can do.

‘If you look at the Environment Agency website, our water quality in Lee and certainly around the area is really good.

‘Across the country discharges are appalling, I think in our area it’s not as bad, if you look at the data generally it’s pretty good.’

The Environment Agency website has classified Lee as having ‘excellent’ water quality with three-star ratings going back to 2017.