Fat cat water bosses should “get a grip” of the sewage crisis they created as a record number of discharges took place last year, campaigners have said.
Storm overflows dumped sewage into rivers and seas across England for more than 3.6 million hours in 2023, more than double the previous year, figures from the Environment Agency (EA) show.
This amounts to 464,056 spills in 2023 – up 54% from 301,091 in 2022.
James Wallace, chief executive of River Action, said: “Water bosses must get a grip of the crisis their businesses have helped cause through chronic under-investment that has resulted in them spilling millions of hours of raw sewage into our rivers every year.
“We want to see water company executive pay linked with performance and that shareholders should pay, not only for bonuses but also for catching up on decades of delayed infrastructure investment.
“However, there is a much …