Untreated sewage spilled into River Nene 312 times last year

Untreated sewage spilled into the River Nene in Peterborough more than 300 times last year, it has been revealed.

A Freedom of Information request from The Labour Party showed that there were 312 spills in Peterborough last year – the equivalent of 2,932 hours of spillage.

In total, the figures from The Rivers Trust, showed that between 2016 and 2021 Anglian Water discharged sewage into waterways and the sea for a total of 501,959 hours, the equivalent of 57 years.

"This isn’t just damaging for our natural environment, it’s also a significant public health hazard.”

Andrew Pakes, Labour & Co-operative Parliamentary Candidate for Peterborough highlighted the figures as a sign government needed to get tougher on water companies, adding: “The government has allowed sewage to be dumped onto our beaches and into our waters without any action for too long. This isn’t just damaging for our natural environment, it’s also a significant public health hazard.

“We need to ensure water companies are held accountable both for leaks and sewage discharges. This needs action to clean up the government’s mess to ensure water companies are held accountable both legally and financially for any damage they cause.”

Plans to invest millions to reduce storm spills

An Anglian Water spokesperson said: “Storm overflows were originally designed to protect homes and businesses from flooding during heavy rainfall, but we recognise that they are no longer the right solution when sewers become overloaded with rainwater. We’ve been dealing with Combined sewer overflows for years, tackling those which pose an environmental risk and working through the rest.

"Between 2020 and 2025, we’re reinvesting more than £200 million to reduce storm spills across the East of England and as part of our Get River Positive commitment we’ve promised that storm overflows will not be the reason for unhealthy rivers or seas in our region by 2030.”

It will cost hundreds of billions to change this design — and it’s impossible to change it quickly

Paul Bristow said: “Our drains were mostly built by the Victorians. They don’t separate storm and rainwater from sewage. The system is actually designed to discharge into rivers and the sea when it rains hard.

“It will cost hundreds of billions to change this design — and it’s impossible to change it quickly.

“But we can change our infrastructure over time, while holding the water companies accountable for their performance. This includes Anglian Water. That’s why I voted for the Environment Act, which included a framework to do both.

“The number of serious pollution incidents had already fallen to a record low in 2021. These incidents must be the priority and our plan is to eliminate them completely.

“This is the first Government to take action. The Labour Party did nothing and have no practical solutions to offer.”

The Freedom of Information request came as the Environment Agency issued warnings to holidaymakers to avoid dozens of beaches across England and Wales this week.

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