Reports that sewage had been dumped in the sea off the Isle of Sheppey have turned out to be 'fake news'.

There had been photographs on social media showing a "slick of unknown substance" floating off the beach at The Leas at Minster. Reports said RNLI lifeguards had raised red flags warning the public not to swim.

Resident Jamie Forster said on Friday: "The lifeguards were asking people to leave and not to go into the water. Last night, they were asking people not to swim due to a sewerage leak from Sheerness.

"It is not an algae bloom as we have seen them many times before. This was a browny-coloured mass in the water."

But experts from Southern Water tested the suspected contamination over the weekend and gave it a clean bill of health.

In an update on social media, Joseph Fowler wrote: "There is no longer a red flag. Southern Water has been on site and confirmed, checked and tested that none of their sewerage outfalls or assets have been released into that water."

Southern Water's "beach buoy" alert system reported no discharges.

In another post Ian Arnell, Swale council's seafront manager, dismissed the lump as seaweed and algae.

Retired coastguard Ian Goodwin, writing on the Sheppey Bluetits page for sea swimmers, said: "I have received no reports of any recent sewerage spillage off Sheerness.

"One of the most common bloom-forming algae in English coastal waters forms a brown, frothy scum. This is often blown onto the shore where it breaks down into an unpleasant brown slime that smells like sewage but soon breaks down and disappears.

"I believe we are experiencing one of these blooms which is a substance known as phaeocystis, a naturally occurring algae which is not considered harmful. Marine algae include seaweeds and microscopic plants called phytoplankton. They often occur in the summer.

"I think it is related to the recent spell of hot weather. Therefore, I shall be going swimming. But you can make your own judgement on this matter."