MP hits out at water company over shocking sewage dumps in Warwick and Leamington

Raw sewage was released into Warwick and Leamington waterways 121 times by Severn Trent Water last year, latest analysis reveals.

Warwick and Leamington MP Matt Western has described the River Trust data as ‘deeply concerning’ and has hit out at private water firms over their environmental record.

As reported in The Courier and Weekly News earlier this month, Mr Western was alerted to a serious sewage overflow in Mill Street, Warwick.

The couple described how fatberg, human waste, used wipes and tampons regularly burst from the drain at the bottom of their garden and into the River Avon.

Now it has emerged that, in Warwick and Leamington, there was 121 sewage spills in 2020, including eight because of storm overflows – according to River Trust data.

This comes as many Conservative MPs voted down an amendment on the Environment Bill, tabled by the Lords last week, to stop routine sewage discharge into rivers and seas.

But there has since been a U-turn on this issue after a huge public blacklash. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has now decided to put legal controls on water firms dumping raw sewage in the sea and rivers across the country after the House of Lords voted for it to be sent back for another vote in Parliament.

The Warwick and Leamington MP said: “Residents want the River Avon and Leam to be free from raw sewage, but human waste is still routinely discharged in them by Severn Trent Water.

“It not only makes river waters unsafe to swim in, but it also damages the precious river habitats for marine life, birds and mammals.

“I am proud to have voted to end sewage dumping and will do so again when the bill returns from the House of Lords where it was rejected quite rightly.

“Perhaps surprisingly, Severn Trent Water, the supplier for Warwick and Leamington, is responsible for the second most sewage discharges of all UK providers.

“The River Trust figures are deeply concerning – especially ahead of the vital COP26 summit in Glasgow.

“The Government has allowed private water firms to dump sewage for too long and it must penalise them for doing it in future.”

Mr Western says he is awaiting the latest data from the Environment Agency over pollution levels in the River Avon and Leam.

A Severn Trent spokesperson: “We’re consistently recognised as a leading performer in the sector for our environmental credentials, having recently achieved the Environment Agency’s highest four star rating.

“This reflects our absolute commitment to the environment and to improving river quality in our region.

"To do that, we’ve already invested £355 million on overflow improvements and minimising our impact on rivers, and earlier this year we were given the green light by Ofwat for our Green Recovery plans, that will see us investing £566m in projects which benefit communities and the environment, including our rivers.

“While we don’t own rivers, we absolutely want to go further and play a leading role in improving river quality in our region.

"Many sectors and activities impact on the quality of our rivers so whilst we continue to minimise the impact of storm overflows, we commit to continue to work with others, such as the agricultural sector as well as educating customers to prevent wipes and sanitary products from reaching rivers."

The River Trust interactive map, which shows where incident have taken place in Warwick and Leamington can be seen by going to: https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/e834e261b53740eba2fe6736e37bbc7b/page/home/?fbclid=IwAR1EQvvHe0pvDWxCC2eY9B7KJML6gtPE3QYZg9tLGvlkefJW-lTKiRBLt4s