AROUND 60 protesters paddled in the waters off Aberystwyth to protest against sewage on Saturday.

The paddle-out protest on north beach was part of a nationwide campaign organised by Surfers Against Sewage and saw surfers, paddle boarders and swimmers gather with placards, calling for an end to the sewage discharges plaguing the UK’s rivers and seas, as sewage overflows continue to have a devastating impact on ecological and human health.

This was the first time such a protest has been held in Aberystwyth, with around 30 similar events taking place across the UK on Saturday.

Speaking before the protests, Giles Bristow, CEO of Surfers Against Sewage, said: “Once again, the public face a grim choice this summer - risk swallowing shit or forego a dip in the water.

“This year offers an opportunity to turn our collective anger into action and end the sewage scandal, with panicked politicians in listening mode, desperate to ride the waves of popular sentiment.

"A general election is imminent, and the public are out on the beach fronts and riverbanks making it clear that the issue of sewage pollution is at the top of the agenda. Ahead of the election, all parties need to show people genuine and quantifiable commitments to eliminate sewage pollution, or suffer the consequences.

Surfers
Protesters gather on Saturday in Aberystwyth (Supplied)

“Like those paddling-out at Aberystwyth, thousands are protesting on the water this weekend to let politicians, regulators and water companies know that the public aren’t going to let them wriggle out of demands for clean seas and rivers. We’re calling for plans that are ambitious enough to end sewage pollution in high-priority nature sites, and the waters we surf, swim and paddle in, by 2030, putting people and nature before profit. We won’t tolerate this broken system any longer.”

SAS is calling for an end to sewage discharges into all bathing waters, and high-priority nature sites, by 2030.

Double Gold medal-winning Olympian Dame Kelly Holmes, backed the protest saying: “I’m paddling out with Surfers Against Sewage and thousands of water-lovers across the country because I’m passionate about our waterways, I’m angry about what’s being done to them.”