Sewage dumped in shellfish-rich water 29,000 times by water companies last year

The worst offenders are South West Water, Southern Water and Anglian Water

Sewage was dumped into waters containing shellfish a staggering 29,000 times last year, according to research.

This equates to 207,013 hours’ worth of sewage in shellfish waters in England in just a year, according to an analysis by the Liberal Democrats. The worst offenders were South West Water, Southern Water and Anglian Water.

The longest sewage dump incident into shellfish water last year was at Morecambe Bay by United Utilities and lasted 5,000 hours – but the figure could be far higher as the sewage monitor at the site worked just 15 per cent of the time.

It comes after Southern Water’s sewage discharges closed Bexhill and Normans Bay beaches at the height of summer, while Exmouth beach in Devon was marked unsafe to swim for nearly a week after at least two separate sewage discharges.

The Liberal Democrats have called for a sewage tax on water companies, citing figures showing firms which pump sewage into lakes and rivers made over £2.8bn in profits.

Conservative MPs recently voted against the banning of sewage discharges into rivers and coastlines.

Sewage discharges into rivers and coastlines are sparking public anger (Getty Images)

Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrats’ spokesperson for the environment said: “England’s treasured shellfish, our prawn, crayfish, lobsters and crabs, are the forgotten victims of this environmental scandal.

“The past week we’ve seen our beaches closed because of these polluting water companies.

“All the while, they are raking in billions of pounds in profits and forking out eye-watering bonuses to their CEOs. Frankly, the whole thing stinks.

“Why aren’t government ministers listening to the public on this? They are ignoring the country’s outrage at this scandal.

“Conservative MPs voted against a ban on sewage dumping. That means right now water companies are still pumping disgusting sewage into the homes of shellfish.”

A spokesperson for Southern Water said: “Storm releases protect homes, schools and hospitals from flooding. They are permitted by the Environment Agency for this reason.

“Southern Water is making huge investments in environmental protection and we are leading the industry with our pioneering approach to reducing reliance on the system.

“Our stormwater taskforce is running five pathfinder projects which combine Southern Water engineering with nature-based solutions and working in partnership.”

South West Water and Anglian Water have been approached for a comment.

It comes after an analysis of the biggest wastewater firms by The Independent found all 11 in England and Wales failed to meet their targets to tackle pollution or sewage floods last year.