Colourful Southsea 'protestival' mercilessly mocks Southern Water over sewage pollution, with message: 'No one wants to swim in poo.'

Stop the Sewage: Southsea, a group fighting for cleaner seas, rammed home their message throughout Saturday by protesting at dumping sewage into the Solent.

A pretend giant pile of faeces and a musical instrument made from a trombone and a toilet bowl were graphic illustrations of their disdain towards those in authority charged with blighting the sea.

The merciless mockery was further extended to a drawing area for children to put down on paper what they thought they would look like in 2050 - the date government hopes to tackle storm discharges from water firms by.

Stop the Sewage co-founder Sarah Shreeve said ‘no one wants to swim in poo’ and insisted it was important to keep up the pressure on Southern Water.

‘We had a really strong turnout of up to 500 people with lots of things happening. Last year we had just a protest but we know people get fatigued just protesting. So we wanted it to be about celebrating the community groups combating pollution and giving their time, energy and expertise to protect local marine habitats,’ she said.

‘We know this will be a long fight. Campaigners have been fighting for decades for change.’

Events got underway in the morning as sea swimmers and kayakers set off from Eastney toilets before reaching South Parade Pier for the start of the protest.

The Protest had speakers from all major political parties and different water sport organisations, as well as sewage activism groups and a performance from Alex Benwell on his ‘AlpenKrappenhorn’ - the toilet bowl trombone.

City council leader, Gerald Vernon-Jackson said: 'It's really important to draw attention to Southern Water pumping sewage into Langstone Harbour. They were so proud that they had only done it 1,000 times, but that's 1,000 times too many.

‘We need investment to sort out the problem, not putting money into the pockets of shareholders. This is why the city council has launched a bid to bring Southern Water into public ownership.'

Claire Hopkins attended the rally on Southsea seafront with a sign saying 'cut the crap'. She said: 'A clean beach is how it should be. I live just over the road and like to come down here every day. My partner fishes here and works as a fisherman. They say they are getting less catches because of the sewage getting dumped'.

A festival at Cumberland Natural History Museum near Canoe Lake then took place throughout the afternoon. Stallholders included Final Straw Solent, the Seahorse Trust, Greenpeace Portsmouth and Hampshire Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust.

Dr Tim Ferrero, of the Solent Seagrass Restoration Project, part of the Wildlife Trust, said ‘better control’ over pollution and agricultural run-off was needed to restore depleted seagrass and marine life in the Solent.

Alison Mayor, of the Seahorse Trust, and Southsea Sub Aqua Club, said there were two types of seahorse in the Solent which needed protecting from the pollution. ‘As a diver I’ve seen things get worse in the last 20 years. We don’t go in after a storm discharge,’ she said.

A beach clean finished off the day.

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