A SEWAGE leak which was seen pouring onto an award-winning beach in north Essex and causing concern amongst seasiders has been fixed.

Walton Beach fell victim to a leaky drain last Thursday, with residents reporting seeing sewage being pumped across a pathway not far from Walton Pier.

In a video seen by the Gazette, the murky-looking water can be seen streaming from an overflowing manhole.

One resident was left extremely concerned after witnessing the liquid spilling onto the seafront sands.

“It’s absolutely disgusting”, they said.

“People, children and dogs are all walking through it and it’s running straight onto the beach.

"It’s a bio-hazard.”

The manhole is owned privately, but despite this, Anglian Wate sent teams down to the scene to work with Environmental Health and the Environment Agency.

"We’re providing guidance to the private owner to ensure they resolve the issue fully to prevent any further impact”, a spokesman added.

Clacton and Frinton Gazette: Disgusting - sewage flowing out of the manholeDisgusting - sewage flowing out of the manhole (Image: Lorne Spicer)

Bosses at Tendring Council said they were aware of this issue, which they said was “caused by a problem with a nearby privately-owned property”.

Now, the incident has been fixed.

Speaking to the Gazette, a resident said: “Anglia Water went down and fixed it.

“It was not Anglian Water’s responsibility in that the landlord of the building should have done it but at the end of the day someone needed to take responsibility.

“It’s thanks to the Gazette that this finally got fixed.

“No one would take responsibility for that awful sewage but after the story was published Anglia Water turned up and did it do credit where credit is due to both the newspaper and Anglia Water.”

A spokesman for Anglian Water added: “While it wasn’t our pipe, we did send teams out to help stem the flow of sewage and clean up the area – they completed this work on September 7.

“This was however a temporary solution to help protect the environment and support public health from any immediate impact, but ultimately the private third party owner of the pipe is responsible for ensuring the issue is fully resolved and won’t happen again in the future.”