The Environment Agency is investigating after shocking images showed a "10-metre wide" area of pollution in the North Sea along a vast area of the County Durham and Teesside coast.
Described as a "slick", by one witness who said he had never seen anything like it before, the pollution is as it stands unidentified, but the Environment Agency said staff were in the County Durham area investigating this on Saturday afternoon.
The witness took pictures from Easington beach and on the coast near Shippersea Bay. They said: "I was going along the coast as I do quite often when I noticed a sheen in the water. I could see it went right the way from the East Durham coast down to Teesside. I had been on Easington beach and you could see it stretched down to Crimdon and Hartlepool."
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They said that they had reported the incident to the Environment Agency at around 2pm, and had a call back shortly after. They shared their pictures with the agency - which forms part of the Government Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
This comes after a week in which sewage discharges off the coast of the UK and in waterways has been a focus of campaigners. Last week several beaches from Amble and Berwick to South Shields were subject to "don't swim" warnings - while Newcastle MP Chi Onwurah slammed the Government's record after data showed the extent of sewage dumping.
She hit out at the Government for "allowing water companies to pump sewage into the North East’s waters". However, at this stage there is no evidence that the pollution spotted off the Durham coast was sewage. There are also not currently any swimming warnings in the area.
A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: "The EA is investigating reports of pollution on Easington Beach in Durham with officers attending this afternoon. Environmental incidents can be reported 24/7 on 0800 807060."
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