Do-not-swim warning issued for Deal beach

Concerns raised as do-not-swim warning is issued for Deal beach

Transcript

00:00I found a sign telling people not to advise people not to swim. Is that a worry for you as a businesswoman?

00:08Absolutely, yeah. We want people to come down to the seaside to have a swim, come in and get some fish and chips.

00:13And I think it will put people off and they won't come down. It's not what we need.

00:18Boxing Day as well, we've got the big Boxing Day dip.

00:21Do you know if it's been cancelled yet?

00:22I haven't heard anything yet, but it will definitely put people off coming down.

00:25It's all over social media and you hear that, you're not going to want to come down and have a swim in that.

00:32Well, the Boxing Day dip has been integral to the deal for years.

00:38I mean, it brings people into the town, people raise a lot of money for charity.

00:44It's an event that's kind of become a tradition.

00:47So to cancel it, I think would be a devastating blow.

00:52Obviously, it's going to affect a lot of pubs on Boxing Day.

00:58This time of year, there's a lot of people who go swimming every day in deal.

01:09And quite honestly, the water quality hasn't been brilliant for years anyway.

01:16So I guess at the end of the day, as with everything, you take your chance, don't you?

01:22The concern is a lot of charities in the town benefit from that event on Boxing Day.

01:31And it would be a cry in shame for that not to happen for the charities.

01:35I mean, they raise a lot of money for that particular event.

01:40Yeah, it shocked me. I did see it last night. It shocked me about that announcement.

01:45But also, I think it was Dim Church as well, as mentioned, wasn't it?

01:50So yeah, it would be a cry in shame if it was that forced to happen.

01:55But let's hope it's not the case.