Swimmers hoping for a New Year's dip are being advised to stay out of the water on a number of Kent beaches.

An environmental campaign group has warned that heavy rainfall has led to storm sewage spillages off the county's north and south-east coasts.

Surfers Against Sewage runs an interactive map to keep track of reported sewage overflows that could affect water quality in bathing areas.

The group has warned beaches in Folkestone, Sandgate, Hythe, Whitstable and Herne Bay have all been tainted by the recent stormy weather.

Additionally, the Environment Agency has warned that bathing water may have been compromised off St Mary's Bay on Romney Marsh.

Southern Water, which is in charge of the overflows, confirmed releases in Whitstable and Herne Bay in the last 24 hours.

Additionally, its monitoring system 'beachbuoy' confirmed a release to St Mary's Bay in the last 72 hours.

It labelled the releases to Folkestone, Sandgate and Hythe as 'unverified releases to bathing areas'.

A spokesman for Southern Water spokesman said: “Increased rainfall can put extra pressure on our sewer network when large volumes of surface water enter the system.

“To stop homes, schools and businesses from flooding, our nation’s network of storm overflows act as a release value to temporarily relieve this pressure, allowing excess flows – typically made up of up to 95% rainwater – to enter rivers and the sea. This is permitted by the Environment Agency.

“Whilst this is how the system is designed to work in weather like this, we know we need to continue to work hard to improve the network. This is going to take time, and we are investing £2bn across five years – much of which will reduce the use of storm overflows, increase storage capacity and find ways to divert rain back to the environment naturally.”