Concerned Caithness surfers say sewage is making them sick

Phoebe Strachan, from Dunnet, is a Scottish champion surfer and teaches children at the surf club.

She said the problem had been an “ongoing issue for many, many years” and that she and many others had got sick or felt unwell.

Strachan, who is also an ambassador with the campaign group Surfers Against Sewage, said: “Thurso East is a world-renowned surf spot.

“People come from all over the world to surf here because our waves in Caithness are amazing.”

She said that during the Scottish Surfing Championships this year there had been sewage overflow and for the entire event the water had been dirty.

“We had quite a few people who were surfing in the competition who became ill afterwards,” she said.

“To me that is unacceptable.”

Strachan fears children and their parents could be put off surfing and said they wanted more monitoring in order to make an “informed decision” about whether to go into the water.