An Exmouth resident has become the first person to be fined for urinating in the sea under new legislation to protect rivers and seas from pollution.  

Penny Spender, an avid sea swimmer, was issued a fine of £80 when she went for her usual early morning swim at the RNLI station in Exmouth.

She said: “I told my friend I was swimming with that I needed to go ahead of her as I was desperate for a wee.  When I got out of the water a Community Support Officer was waiting and told me that I had broken the law, by polluting the sea through urinating.  He issued me with a £80 on the spot fine.  I thought he was joking at first and then was shocked to realise he was serious.”

The new legislation that came into force on 1st April 2024 is an extension of the existing Control of Pollution Act 1974 and is part of the government’s response to growing public pressure to address the ongoing pollution of rivers and seas across the country.

A spokesperson for DEFRA said that we all need to do our bit to reduce water pollution and that means not treating the sea like a toilet;  it is no longer acceptable to swim and wee.

A local resident, Frank Truman, an active environmentalist, said South West Water had ‘spilled’ sewage into Exmouth seas 97 times this year so far and has pumped sewage continuously for over 2,500 hours in the last 4 months. “You’d have to do a lot of wees in the sea to match that!”