'My daughter died after swimming in sewage' - West Midlands mum warns Brits planning holidays

A West Midlands mum who says her daughter died after swimming in sewage-filled water at a Devon beach is warning parents of the risks during summer - and claims it's worse than ever.

Heather Preen, eight, died two weeks after contracting E. coli in 1999, during a family holiday to Dawlish Warren. Her mum Julie Maughan, 59, believes her daughter caught the disease from sewage in the water.

South West Water said no definitive source of infection was established.

Julie, whose tragic story inspired Channel 4's 'Dirty Business' wants other parents to understand the dangers of swimming in the sea this summer.

Julie, a personal trainer from Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, said: "When I see parents now on the beach, I can't run around screaming and shouting saying 'get out of the water, get out the water,' but I want them to know how dangerous it is."

Julie says nothing has changed since her daughter's death and water companies are still illegally dumping sewage in the water. Now, with water shortages and a summer of heatwaves, she fears another outbreak.

Julie said: "I don't want people to suffer what I suffered. I don't want children to spend half their holiday with sickness and diarrhoea. They're doing dry discharges now, which is completely illegal. They're pumping pathogens into the water, without any consequence at all. There's toxic soup going on, and it's an outbreak waiting to happen. Right now, this is a public health crisis."

In late July 1999, Julie and her husband Mark took their children, Heather, eight, and Suzanne, ten, to Dawlish, in Devon. But before their swim on the Dawlish Warren beach, they came across a sewage pipe. They tried to jump over the water that was spilling out of it, but Heather slipped and her foot entered the water.

Julie said her husband Mark remembered seeing toilet paper in the water. Heather entered the sea to wash off. That night, she became suddenly ill.

Julie said: "She had a really bad upset stomach and she came out of the bathroom really distressed. I just did what any mother would. I calmed her down, kept her off her food and made sure she drank water. Heather being heather was as good as gold."

But over the course of a week, instead of getting better, Heather became weaker.

Julie said: "As time went on she started to deteriorate, she didn't pick up," she said. "She started bleeding from her rectum, so we took her to the chemist. The doctor told me not to worry though, and said it was just some colitis. He gave Heather an anti-sickness tablet - which now we know was a very bad idea.

"Then the dysentery really started - I had to put sanitary towels on her because she was bleeding so much. That's when we said okay, enough is enough. This isn't colitis. So we took her to another doctor, and we were told to take her to casualty straight away.

"When we arrived, they said 'oh she'll be fine, don't worry.' But then things started to turn.

"I'll never forget when they tried to take her blood pressure. They wheeled in one machine but couldn't get any reading of her blood pressure. So they wheeled it out, assuming it was broken, and wheeled in another. But they still couldn't get a reading. That's when they realised it wasn't the machine."

After testing, doctors said Heather had been infected with an aggressive strain of E.coli - a type of bacteria found in contaminated water and faeces.

Julie said: "Other families and other children started to appear with the same symptoms and illness, and we started to realise it was an outbreak. That's when doctors started asking questions about the water and where we sat on the beach."

Julie's husband Mark took their daughter Suzanne back to their holiday chalet, while Julie stayed by Heather's side.

Julie said: "Through the night she started fitting, little tiny fits. Now, looking back, I realised I was watching her die. That was when most of the damage was happening. In the morning, Mark and Suzanne came back and that's when she had the massive fit. They rushed her into intensive care in Bristol and then things started to spiral from there."

Heather remained in intensive care for around a week, but after extensive tests, doctors told Julie that there was no activity in her brain.

Julie said: "After that, they told us we needed to turn off the life support, because her brain had been so damaged. So we did, and then we just left. It was so bizarre."

Heather Preen died on 8 August. The inquest took place the following February.

It was heard there was a sewage discharge a few days before Julie's girls swam at the beach. But South West Water and the Environment Agency said that a “single spill” from the storm overflow four days before the families were on the beach was unlikely to be the source. Ultimately, the cause of the outbreak was not identified, and a verdict of misadventure was returned by a jury.

From that moment, Julie focused on campaigning for better water quality and sharing her daughter's story, but tragically her husband couldn't handle the grief. Mark Preen took his own life 17 years after he lost his daughter.

The charity Surfers Against Sewage, who have supported Julie, say: "Sewage overflows... are designed to discharge waste only during heavy rainfall, when sewer systems risk becoming overwhelmed. However, our investigation shows that sewage is being discharged even when it hasn’t rained.

"A dry spill occurs when a sewer overflow releases sewage when rainfall is below 0.25mm on the day of the spill and the following 24 hours. Because there is no rainwater to dilute the waste, pollution released during dry spills can be more concentrated and potentially more harmful for swimmers, surfers and other water users."

Their investigation found that in 2025, 105 bathing waters experienced 7,885 hours of illegal dry spills, and 79% of those locations are classified as “good” or “excellent” bathing waters.

Julie said: "People in the midlands who don't live by the sea, you need to understand that the locals know what's happening and they protect their children. We don't know anything about that. Just because it looks beautiful, it doesn't mean it's clean."

Julie urges people to download the SSRS app - which stands for Safer Seas and Rivers Service. It shows live information about water quality and recent sewage spills around the UK coast.

Julie said: "Check the app. If it says it isn't safe, do something else for the day and check again tomorrow. It's not worth risking it."

The SSRS app has issued 5474 sewage alerts in 2026 so far.

She said: "I don't want people to not go on holiday, I just want people to be safe, be informed, know what's happening.”

She also advises families to use hand sanitizer, and cover any cuts or open wounds you have.

When life is difficult, Samaritans can be contacted day or night, 365 days a year. You can call them for free on 116 123, email them at [email protected], or visit www.samaritans.org to find your nearest branch.