Latest data shows the shameful extent of sewage spilled into rivers in 2020, according to South Shropshire MP, Philip Dunne.

The Environment Agency have for the first time released new data showing how often sewage spilled into rivers and waterways across England during 2020. These figures include the monitoring equipment installed now in over 12,000 water treatment sites, around 80% of the total in England.

The data shows storm overflows discharged sewage and storm water more than 400,000 times, and for more than 3 million hours during a full year in England.

Mr Dunne introduced a Private Member’s Bill to highlight the impact of sewage pollution, and has been working with the government to combat the issue. The government has committed to publish progress against a plan to improve water quality.

Mr Dunne said: “Today’s announcement from the Environment Agency has for the first time pulled together data from over 12,000 water treatment sites. This shows the importance of transparency in revealing the shameful challenge of sewage spillage events into our rivers, with some 400,000 spills for over 3 million hours during 2020.

“This is why I applied to bring legislation to fix the problem. The government agreed earlier this week to introduce law to improve transparency and require the Defra Secretary of State to report to Parliament on water quality improvement.

“This data goes to show to show we must give greater priority as a nation to managing our sewage so we #EndSewagePollution.”