A councillor has branded sewage discharges “one of the biggest scandals of our generation” after a city beach had to be closed to swimmers earlier this month.

A temporary warning was issued for Thorpe Bay, Essex, on 5 July due to heavy rainfall but has since been lifted, the Environment Agency said.

Lydia Hyde, the Labour councillor responsible for climate, environment, and waste on Southend-on-Sea City Council, said: “It’s frustrating that we can’t take more action than we can to address it because the impact is on our coastline.”