South West Water fined £7.8m for pollution offences

Summarised from 4 outlets · Updated 29 Sept, 16:25 · Archive

South West Water has been fined £7.8m for pollution offences across Devon and Cornwall.

South West Water pleaded guilty to 24 environmental charges over pollution incidents between January 2015 and July 2021 in Bodmin, Harlyn, Polperro, Plymouth and Playing Place. The Environment Agency imposed the fine. A judge described the company as 'reckless' after raw sewage spilled into bathing spots and sensitive habitats; on one occasion, sewage gushed through a harbour wall on a bank holiday weekend and engineers took 10 hours to respond.

How it is being reported

• South West Water fined £8m for hundreds of sewage spills in Cornwall and DevonGuardian Business · 29 Sept, 16:19
• Water firm fined almost £8m for sewage spillages at beauty spotsSky News · 29 Sept, 15:46
• South West Water is fined nearly £8million for 'horrendous' sewage spills over six yearsDaily Mail · 29 Sept, 15:31
• South West Water hit with £7.8m fine for ‘horrendous’ pollution offencesCity AM · 29 Sept, 15:09

In this story: South West Water · Environment Agency · Devon · Cornwall · Bodmin · Plymouth

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem