BEACH pollution campaigners will this week learn Northumbrian Water's plans for a sewerage scheme in Marske.

Members of Marske Against Raw Sewage and a Klean Environment (Marske) will meet the company on Friday with what they describe as "guarded optimism".

The campaigners are taking comfort from the fact that they have written confirmation that original plans to site two tanks at a beauty spot have been scrapped. Members of Marske say their proposals seem to have been accepted as being feasible.

The wrangle centres on concerns of sewage spillage and offensive odours on Marske beach. Residents feared tanks at The Headlands could create health problems and loss of recreational facilities.

Northumbrian Water staged a public meeting to gauge opinion and hundreds of people turned up to register their views.

After Redcar MP Vera Baird and Redcar and Cleveland council got involved in the row, the firm said various options were being considered.

The company has said it has considered sinking a storage tank in a field at Church Howle, with another buried on The Stray, opposite Bydales School playing field.

But residents have already said they don't want the tanks near their homes.

A Northumbrian Water spokesman said tanks were necessary and it had done its best to please everyone.