The East Lothian town of North Berwick is on countless lists of the ‘coolest’ and ‘best’. It was the only town in Scotland on the Telegraph’s list of top 20 seaside towns in the UK, coming fifth. But the beach, according to locals, currently has an “unacceptable” sewage problem.

Richard Yates, who does regular walks with his dog along Milsey Bay, the North Berwick beach that stretches east of the town, has collected piles of what he describes as “tampons, wipes and sanitary products” in recent weeks.

“I pick up plastic every day whilst walking my dog on the beach,” he said, “and over the past few weeks have gathered all manner of sanitary wear from the washed up weed on Milsey Bay.”

“I have observed objects coming in on the tide near to where visitors’ children are playing,” he added.

“Be it an operational problem – ineffectiveness to screen this stuff – or a planning issue and misjudged housing growth versus sewage works capacity, this is totally unacceptable. There is also talk anecdotally that it could have something to do with the mobile homes that park up there. If I can find this on the beach, how much is there in the sea, which might then affect the seabird life at Europe’s biggest European Gannet colony nearby?”

Mr Yates has been keeping some of the waste in his garage as a sample of what he found.

The Herald: Sewage-related debris at Milsey Bay, North Berwick

Boatman, John Macarthur, also observed sewage in the sea recently, whilst he was in his boat. “I did notice,” he said, “after heavy rain last week there was a strong smell of sewage at the east end of Milsey Bay and as it was low tide, I could see sanitary products on the seabed. I had a lobster creel near there and I moved it away from the area due to potential contamination.”

North Berwick Community Council have reported the problem to Scottish Water.

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Milsey Bay, which has stunning views over to the Bass Rock,  has bathing waters status - though it is only rated as 'sufficient' - and is sampled fortnightly for sewage-related bacteria.

Most readings have been well within the safe limit, but earlier this month, on August 8, there was a huge spike in bacteria- levels, with a sample registering 1400 cfu/l of intestinal enterococci.

According to the 2006 EU Bathing Water Directive, a concentration of over 200 cfu/100ml of enterococci is considered unsafe.

The Herald: Pat Christie captured the stunning reflections at the beach in North Berwick

A Scottish Water spokesperson said: “On August 8, Scottish Water attended to a private issue with a blocked drain in North Berwick, which was causing the sewer to overflow from manhole into road gully and discharge to the sea at Milsey Bay. We cleared the blockage as a gesture of goodwill, cleaned the area and reported pollution incident to SEPA.”

“This may have been the cause of spike in the water sample on this date and potential source of sewer-related debris (SRD) on the beach. Items being wrongly flushed down the toilet instead of put in the bin are a source of litter in Scotland’s rivers and coastal waters.”

“General items of litter along with SRD can wash up on beaches around Scotland’s coastline, sometimes miles away from the original source. We urge everyone to think before they flush and bin the wipes, as well as supporting campaigns like Keep Scotland Beautiful.”

Mr Yates also his expressed anger at the fact that members of the public were flushing these items down their drains. "I can't for the life of me think why that stuff goes down the loo," he said. "It beggars belief why people put anything like that down there."