Southern Water has paused planned work at Bembridge Point while it deals with a legal challenge and environmental permitting issues, stopping a project that had been due to resume on Monday 8 June.

The pause came as residents gathered on the beach in protest when contractors were expected back at the site. Among them was Lady Sally Grylls, who joined the demonstration in her 80s and wore a swimsuit despite the bad weather, a striking image of how closely the dispute is being watched locally.

The company says the work involves repairing an overflow that has been part of its network since at least the 1930s and that rising beach levels have blocked it over a number of years. Southern Water says that blockage has contributed to more than 20 internal flooding incidents in homes at nearby Solent Landing, and it argues the repairs are needed to prevent further damage.

That case is being challenged by Warren Drew, who wrote to the company arguing that the installation is unlawful. He said the Environmental Impact Assessment was inadequate and that alternatives had not been properly considered, setting up a dispute over whether the project is a lawful repair of an existing outfall or a new installation that should not go ahead.

Southern Water says it has responded to the legal letter and is also engaging with the Environment Agency over environmental permitting requirements linked to the future operation of the extended outfall. It says the works received authorisation in relation to nearby seagrass meadows within the Bembridge Marine Conservation Zone.

The decision that will matter now is whether those legal and permitting issues are enough to keep the work on hold, or whether Southern Water can return to the site and restart a project it says is needed to protect homes and businesses from flooding.