Southern Water has been at the centre of a number of incidents, including in January when millions of plastic pellets were washed up on the Sussex and Kent coast.

In 2019, it was hit with a £126m fine for wastewater spills, and then £90m in fines in 2021, external.

Last April, it pleaded guilty to 13 sewage spills in Kent.

Surfers against Sewage, however, was unimpressed with Southern Water’s work.

Chloe Flood, from the campaign group, said: “This is pretty outrageous from Southern Water.

“We see this time and time again. If it’s not the weather, it’s us that are the problem.

“This is nothing more than a PR stunt to shift the focus away from the real problems with Southern Water themselves.”

A spokesperson for Southern Water said it “engages closely with members of Surfers Against Sewage”, adding: “The causes of poor water quality are complex and varied – road run off, animal life, human behaviour on beaches. Misconnections can have a very significant impact.”