SURFERS are set to paddle out across Britain’s coasts, rivers and lakes tomorrow in nationwide protests demanding an end to private ownership of the water sector.

Led by Surfers Against Sewage (SAS), groups will gather at more than 50 locations for the annual protest.

Protesters in England will also oppose the Water Reform Bill, announced in the King’s Speech on Wednesday, which they say will entrench privatisation in law rather than reverse it.

Ministers have ruled out returning water companies to public ownership. An annual survey by the Consumer Council for Water found that trust in water companies has plunged to a new low, with most concerns centring on sewage mismanagement and soaring bills.

SAS chief executive Giles Bristow said: “The Water Reform Bill is nothing more than a whitewash, locking in a failed system that has seen pollution, shareholder profits and consumer bills soar over three decades.

“Public support for privatised water has all but vanished and while thousands take to the beaches in protest, the government is burying its head in the sand.”

Polling commissioned by SAS found that only 7 per cent of adults in England believe water companies should remain privately owned.

Some 77 per cent supported a change in operating model, with 35 per cent backing full public ownership.

Julie Maughan, whose daughter Heather Preen died from E coli after visiting a Devon beach in 1999, said: “This government has had every opportunity to fix the broken water system and chosen not to.

“People are getting seriously ill and families are afraid to get in the water.”

A government spokesperson said it had taken “swift action” and that its reforms would establish a new regulator with greater powers to “clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good.”