Swimmer blames pollution for E. coli infection

A swimmer has blamed sewage releases into the North Sea for a bout of illness.

Paddy Thompson needed five courses of antibiotics to rid her of an E. coli infection she believes was contracted while swimming at Hornsea in East Yorkshire.

Yorkshire Water did not respond to Mrs Thompson's claim that it is responsible for her illness but said they are investing £165m to reduce storm overflows along the Yorkshire coast.

The Environment Agency said the town's bathing water had been rated as 'excellent' for the last three years.

Mrs Thompson, 77, said she was taken unwell in November shortly after taking a dip in the sea. She said she was later told by her doctor that she had a urinary tract infection (UTI), caused by E. coli.

"I learned there had been outages of sewage that day," she said. "The doctor could not categorically say that was the cause."

According to the UK Health Security Agency, E. coli bacteria is found in faeces and can survive in the environment.

It can cause a range of infections, including those of the urinary tract.

Every time water is pumped out through the outflow an alert is triggered. According to the Safer Seas and River Service, there were 31 alerts in 2024 and 19 in the first week of 2025.

In a statement, Yorkshire Water said: "The storm overflow alerts at Hornsea in the early part of 2025 were caused by a combination of the exceptionally wet start to the year..... and sea water entering the combined sewer outflow during high tides."

The company added that malfunctioning valves allowing sea water into the system will need to be repaired by divers "as soon as possible to reduce spurious readings being recorded".

Mrs Thompson said she moved to Hornsea because she wanted to be a regular member of the women's swimming groups, but added she is now anxious about entering the water.

She said: "I feel a bit cheated in a way because I love swimming in the sea and it has made me nervous."

Mrs Thompson is concerned about the increasing number of outflow alerts.

"I think it's absolutely horrendous," she said. "I think Yorkshire Water are being allowed to get away with it. They seem not to care about it."

She added: "They're being paid big bonuses for a job that they're not doing and I feel that Yorkshire Water should take it in hand and instead of it becoming worse, which appears to be the problem, make things better for us".

Excellent water quality recorded by the Environment Agency over the past year means Hornsea keeps its coveted blue flag status.

Meanwhile, the BBC was told Yorkshire Water's promises to improve the situation with the storm overflow will be closely monitored by the women who swim off Hornsea.