Our oceans are in crisis, says record-breaking swimmer Lewis Pugh and the British government needs to take a lead to tackle it.

Less that half an hour out of the water, after a swim of nearly 330 miles, Mr Pugh spoke to Kent Online saying: "Our oceans are in crisis and I'm urging the UK government to really take a strong leadership position on this issue.

"At the moment there is a vacuum in leadership on ocean issues. I think it's a position, which the UK can naturally take."

He added that coastline marine protection in the UK was "woefully inadequate."

He said: "Around the United Kingdom we've only got seven square kilometres of fully protected areas.

History made with Channel swim

"The rest is open to oil drilling, gas drilling, industrial fishing, gunnery practice, shipping, aggregate removal. We need to do much better."

"The scientists are telling us that unless we are fully protecting at least 30% of the world's oceans by 2030 the chances of them being able to recover is limited.

"I've been swimming the oceans for 30 years. I've seen enormous changes. The biggest change I'm seeing is overfishing.

"Throughout the world now it's almost as if we are pulling out all the fish and then just throwing in all the plastic."

His swim was specifically to raise awareness of plastic pollution, climate change and commercial overfishing and the impact these three problems have on UK seas.

Mr Pugh, 48, had broken a world record by becoming the only person to swim the entire length of the English Channel, from Land's End in Cornwall to Dover.

He touched the harbour wall at Shakespeare Beach just after 1.30pm today, ending swim in 49 days, one day earlier than targeted.

Mr Pugh had carried out the feat, called The Long Swim, to highlight the issue of sea pollution.

He said the cause kept him going throughout his gruelling task.

He said: ""It was a driving force in the beginning, in the middle in the end and throughout. It's in fact the only thing that got me through those tough days.

"It was so exciting to finally hit that wall and then end the swim. It is huge relief and excitement to finally get in over and done with.

"It's been a swim of two halves. The beginning was beautiful, relaxed, nice warm, sunny days. But when we hit the Isle of Wight then it became very tough. Storm after storm and swimming in some very extreme conditions even at night.

"It has been such a long swim - 49 days. I was certainly worried when I got around to Dungeness about whether I could actually get around it. It was very bad weather. We have had storm after storm after storm and I felt sheer exhaustion as well."

A group of swimmers went out to meet Mr Pugh in the water on his last kilometre.

They joined him back to shore until he swam the last yards on his own and touched the wall of Admiralty Pier to mark his finish.

When he landed he was greeted by his wife Antoinette plus a large crowd, well-wishers, local and national media and fellow environment campaigners.

They had all waited on the beach, coping with pouring rain.

Among the organisations there were Surfers Against Sewage, Dover and Deal Green Party and Goodwin Sands SOS (Save Our Sands), which this summer lost its battle to stop the Port of Dover digging part of the shifting sands off Deal for aggregate to redevelop Dover Eastern Docks.

Also there was Environment Secretary Michael Gove who heard his concerns about sea pollution.

e afterwards told Kent Online: "Lewis is an inspirational figure. As well as admiring his grit, his stamina and determination I think we should also pay tribute to his leadership. He is making sure we appreciate how important the sea around us are and how important it is to protect theme are.

"We have made sure there are protected areas around our islands but we need to do more.

"One of the things we are consulting on is extending the network of Marine Conservation Zones around the UK to make sure that more marine wildlife is protected and that our environment is passed on to the next generation in an enhanced state.

"It's important that we strike a balance between commercial activity, sustainable fishing, which coastal communities need, and the health of our environment. I'm convinced that we can strike the right balance."

Mr Pugh that afternoon attended a reception at the Royal Cinque Ports Yacht Club at Dover's main seafront.

The distance of his Channel-length feat, which began on July 12, is now confirmed as 530km (329 miles).

It had originally been expected to be 560km (347 miles) but the route outside the Isle of Wight had to be changed because tides there were against him.

Mr Pugh now heads to Whitehall for a series of meetings with the aim of getting more Marine Protected Areas created around the UK coastline.

Currently, only seven square kilometres out of a total of 750,000 square kilometres of the UK’s waters are fully under this form of protection.

Mr Pugh is a veteran endurance swimmer and UN Patron of the Oceans.

He is the only person to have completed a long-distance swim in every ocean in the world, including the Arctic and Antarctica.