Swimmers warned to avoid sewage release area

Bathers and swimmers have been warned to avoid seawater contaminated with sewage off the Isle of Wight.

The council said people should stay out of the water at Totland Bay and Colwell Bay after the Environment Agency found contamination along the west coast.

Southern Water said it was "sorry for the concern this release has caused" and blamed an electrical grid failure in the early hours that meant a pump could not operate.

It said a mobile generator had since been used to restore power and the release had been stopped.

A spokesperson for the water company said other sewage releases in the past 72 hours had been to protect from flooding after torrential rain.

It is not known when the warning to avoid the contaminated water will be lifted.