A total of nine Kent beaches could have polluted waters from sewage discharge caused by recent storms.

The Environment Agency has extended a 'do not swim' warning to beaches across much of the county's north and south-east coasts.

People have reported seeing dark stains in the sea and "foul smells" at various shorelines in the last 24 hours.

A warning was originally applied by environment campaign group Surfers Against Sewage to beaches in Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate, Sheerness and Leysdown.

As of this morning, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has confirmed the five warnings and extended them to a further four beaches.

This includes West Beach in Whitstable, Tankerton, and Herne Bay Central beaches, as well as Dymchurch.

A shocking video recorded by campaign group SOS Whitstable shows what appears to be raw sewage lapping the beach in Tankerton.

A spokesperson for Southern Water said: “This week's thunder storms brought heavy rain which fell onto parched ground and couldn’t absorb surface run-off, meaning that more rain than usual overwhelmed our network.

"This led to some overflows – which are used to protect homes, schools, businesses and hospitals from flooding – spilling excess water into the sea in parts of west Sussex, including Seaford.

"These discharges are heavily diluted and typically 95% of them are rainwater.

“We are dedicated to significantly reducing storm overflows and are running innovative pilot schemes across the region to reduce the amount of rainfall entering our combined sewers by 2030.”

A spokesman for SOS Whistable said that the situation was "incredibly disappointing" and accused Southern Water of "downplaying" the severity of the leaks.

"As well as the health risk posed to swimmers and the enormous damage inflicted on the marine life, this will prove catastrophic to the local economy, especially the fishing and hospitality industries, at a time when they are still recovering from the pandemic," they said.

"Southern Water's comments that these releases are 'typically 95% rainwater' deliberately plays down the seriousness of the situation and are potentially dangerous.

"'Typically' does not mean 'always' and there is no way for the general public to differentiate between spills that are predominantly rainwater and those which aren't.

"Furthermore, the notion that these releases are only 5% sewage and therefore not a risk, contradicts the volume of messages which we receive from people who have become ill after swimming in them."