Neither frigid temperatures nor warning signs, not even police, could keep Arnie Ross from fulfilling an annual tradition on Tuesday.

Ross, 67, dodged police to dive into the polluted waters of Halifax harbour for his New Year's Day polar bear swim.

The cops were only trying to keep him from getting sick after the Health Department put a ban on swimming at the harbour beach hoping to cancel the annual chilly dip.

Arnie Ross tells police he's going for a swim

With "Happy 2002" written on his back, Ross stood shirtless on the beach and calmly told a police officer,"You can put the handcuffs on me and come in with me. I'm going in."

And he did.

Across the country, hundreds of people just like Ross brave chilly waters on New Year's Day. But this year the water in Halifax harbour has high levels of bacteria from the raw sewage that's dumped into it.

Police officer pulls up in the chase as Arnie Ross heads for the water in Halifax harbour

People in Halifax flush a hundred million litres of raw, untreated sewage into the harbour every day. Now health officials say bacterial contamination levels are so high that it's no longer safe to swim in the harbour.

"There's a lot of bacteria and viruses that can be in human sewage," says Dr. Robert Strang of Nova Scotia's Department of Health. The microbes "can give you any number of illnesses that'll cause vomiting, diarrhea, things like that."

One disappointed polar bear swimmer said New Year's Day wouldn't be the same without the traditional dip.

"You're never in there for more than a minute or two so I don't know," says Mike Crossman. "Maybe your odds are good of getting something ... but I somehow doubt it."

The city has never officially sanctioned the event and warned there would be no emergency personnel on site for those who dare to take a dip.

City officials say the swimmers can return when the harbour is deemed clean again.