A campaign group says the "irony has not been lost" on them after they were forced to cancel a protest against pollution because of a sewage discharge. The Santas Against Sewage swimming event was planned by Cornwall-based Surfers Against Sewage at Gyllyngvase Beach in Falmouth this week - but met with a major last-minute hiccup. Protesters decided to axe the plans after South West Water (SWW) released storm discharge into the sea, making it potentially dangerous for people to enter.

A spokesperson for the group told Cornwall Live: "Unfortunately, we were unable to get into the sea due to South West Water dumping sewage! The irony was not lost on us. We decided to go ahead with the protest anyway and gathered a lovely little group on the shoreline to demand that SWW clean up their act."

SWW agreed to pay £24 million for wastewater spillages earlier this year after it was judged to have failed to meet legal obligations in managing its treatment works and network by water regular Ofwat.

The firm said this week's discharge in Falmouth was caused by heavy rainfall activating storm overflows "in line with their permits".

University student Jasmine Boniface, 20, who took part in the beach-based protest, told the BBC: "We were planning to get into the sea and stand up for the fact that lots of people use the water and we need to be able to show how we feel about the pumping of loads and loads of sewage into it, making it unsafe.

"The fact we find out we can't even get in the water for the protest is so ironic."

Fellow student Verity Jones, 21, added: "It really proves the point of why we're here. It's awful and it's shocking, but at the same time no one is really shocked because that's why we're here."

SWW, which services 1.8 million customers in south west England, was found to be the worst culprit for sewage discharge into shellfish waters last year, responsible for 13,000 spillages spanning 98,000 hours.

Around 17,000 of its customers were warned to boil their water before drinking it last May after more than 50 cases of cryptosporidium, a parasite linked to animal faeces.

A spokesperson said it has started installing a new storm water storage tank under Gyllyngvase Beach car park, which would "significantly reduce" the use of storm overflows. They also described the overflows as "essential pressure-relief valves" that prevent waste from backing up into homes and public spaces during bad weather.

"We are serious about reducing the use of storm overflows but change of this scale takes time, ambition and increased investment," they added.