Leamington and Warwick MP highlights growing 'crisis' of sewage dumping in Rivers Leam and Avon

Warwick and Leamington MP Matt Western has raised grave concerns about the “growing crisis” of sewage in the towns’ rivers – The Avon and Leam.

Mr Western has highlighted that the amount of sewage dumped into the waterways has risen from over 6,000 hours in 2022 to more than 13,000 hours in 2023.

Figures from Top of the Poops website, which analyses sewage dumps by water companies in the UK, show that the River Avon was polluted by sewage 1,130 times in 2023, which lasted 10,187 hours.

The statistics show that the River Leam was on the receiving end of 338 sewage dumps in 2023, lasting 3,521 hours.

Sewage in UK waterways featured heavily in national news recently after River Thames boat racers from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge were warned about high rates of E-coli in the water.

Nationally, over 3.6 million hours of sewage was dumped into rivers and seas in 2023, double what was dumped in 2022.

Mr Western, has been vocal in both his outrage at the sheer scale of sewage being dumped into local and national waterways.

In April 2023, the MP invited the then Secretary of State for the Environment, Thérèse Coffey, to visit the constituency and “don a cozzie” and see herself the state of the rivers.

She did not take him up on the offer.

On the latest figures, Matt Western said: “This is beyond disgraceful, over thirteen thousand hours of sewage dumped into our two local rivers. What should be there for people to enjoy, particularly as we approach warmer weather, have been turned into an open sewer.

When we have a warm day, instead of looking forward to a day by the river, people are filled with dread about what may be in there.

“We’ve been let down for too long by the Government and water companies by a complete lack of action on this sewage scandal.

“We deserve so much better.

“I will continue to demand and repeat my calls that our rivers are there for us to enjoy, not to be used as an open sewer.”

Severn Trent, the water company which covers Warwickshire, has said that the region it covers experienced 35 per cent more rain than in 2022.

Despite this, the company has said it is committed to protect and improve the region’s rivers – with its share of impact down to 14 per cent last year with the aim being ten per cent for 2024.

It is investing £384 million in a programme to reduce spills from storm overflows – which cause sewage to enter rivers – both this year and next.

It is also planning to spend a further £1.1bn up to 2030 to reduce average spills to the lowest level in the water industry and “is confident it will secure the EA’s Environmental Performance Assessment highest 4* status for a fifth consecutive year”.