A Kent beach has been named and shamed by a punk icon on national TV over its water quality.

Singer Feargal Sharkey visited Whitstable as part of a Good Morning Britain investigation, which aired this morning.

KentOnline has extensively covered the impact ongoing sewage releases by Southern Water are having on the town's residents, visitors and businesses.

Mr Sharkey joins a number of celebrities who have spoken out about the saga, including Paul Whitehouse and Bob Geldof.

The Undertones singer visited Whitstable, where he revealed there were a staggering 202 releases in the town last year.

He spoke with the local Green Party, which has been conducting citizen testing to identify harmful bacteria in the water, such as E.coli.

Test results shown on Good Morning Britain following Mr Sharkey's visit revealed the seawater at Whitstable was "high risk and probably unsafe" at the time the sample was taken.

Host Ben Shephard revealed there had been two swimmers in the sea when the TV crew was filming at the beach.

"When we began filming that morning at 8am, the sewage overflow at that point started dumping sewage into the sea and it ran for five hours," said Mr Sharkey.

"While we were filming those wild swimmers, there was a little group of ladies of a certain age.

"I suspect it is a regular, little event they do. They get together on a Friday morning, have a coffee, a bit of a chat and go for a swim.

"I have to admit I was torn as to whether to go over and have a quiet word to say, 'I have to tell you, I would not be in there'."

Mr Starkey says the sewage issues have stirred up problems for the oyster and whelk industries.

The Whitstable Oyster Trading Company's farm manager, Terry Braine, said: "We have times of the year where we cannot produce oysters or bring them to market.

"In 2021, we were closed over the summer months, which is our busiest period so that's a large loss of sales for the company."

He says the firm has doubled the capacity of its purifying facilities - which cleans the oysters - in a bid to adapt.

KentOnline has previously reported how people have "lost confidence" in the town’s produce.

Graham West - who heads West Whelks in the town’s harbour - previously told how he believes 150 years of heritage “has gone out of the window in one hit”.

"Toxic waste into the ocean is killing local biodiversity..."

Mr Sharkey also spoke to SOS Whitstable, a local campaign group which has voiced its concerns about the ongoing issues.

Co-founder Sal Burtt-Jones said: "Is what they're doing legal? If you look at its permit, yes.

"However, if you go back to the Wastewater Treatment Act, which says they can only release in exceptional circumstances, then they're absolutely not abiding by that law at all.

"Pumping out untreated sewage has chemicals and micro-plastics.

"Toxic waste into the ocean is killing local biodiversity and Southern Water is walking away with hundreds of pounds of salaries and bonuses."

Southern Water was hit with a record £90 million fine in July 2021 after unleashing up to 21 billion litres of sewage into protected waters between 2010 and 2015.

It continues to face criticism over permitted releases off the Kent coast during periods of heavy rainfall, some of which have sparked warnings to bathers to avoid swimming in the sea.

Toby Willison, Southern Water’s director of environment and quality, said: "This week, I met with representatives of the Whitstable Fishermen's Association to better understand the concerns of the Whitstable fishing community.

"In the meeting, I explained the actions we are taking to reduce storm overflows.

"We are spending £25 million in Whitstable alone to improve our performance, including upgrades to the Swalecliffe Wastewater Treatment Works, and a number of innovative nature-based solutions to slow the flow of surface water into our sewer network.

"Today’s official Environment Agency data for 2022 shows a fall in overall storm overflow activity and we are already exceeding the government’s expectations for spills per overflow.

"However, we know this still isn’t good enough and are working extremely hard to drive down storm overflows."