United Utilities has committed more than £100 million in response to a sewage spill incident at Fleetwood Wastewater Treatment Works in 2023.

Following a successful Environment Agency investigation into a sewage spill. the company pleaded guilty to five offences related to breaches of environmental permits at Preston Magistrates Court this week and were ordered to pay £964,225 in fines and costs.

The offences followed a serious environmental incident between 11 and 22 June 2023, when raw sewage was discharged into the Irish Sea along the Fylde Coast from three coastal pumping stations for more than 35 hours in total over several days.

Sewage was reported on beaches and in marine recreational facilities including Fleetwood baths, while United Utilities’ own modelling showed a sewage plume had touched seven bathing waters and significantly impacted bathing water quality in the hours following the spills.

As a result, the Environment Agency issued ‘no bathing’ advice across all eight designated bathing waters along the affected coastline, while sampling carried out during the incident by a trained citizen scientist was also indicative of the presence of E. coli.

Three shellfish beds were also temporarily closed by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) due to concerns for public health.

The company said the £100 million+ investment reflected its commitment to putting things right and delivering lasting benefits for the local communities that were impacted.

The incident occurred when a treated wastewater pipe leaving Fleetwood burst nine metres below ground, affecting the site's ability to treat flows at full capacity.

During the repair period, there were occasions when storm overflows along the Fylde coast operated outside of their permit conditions while treatment capacity was restored.

In response, more than 400 United Utilities employees and specialist contractors worked around the clock to maintain wastewater services, minimise environmental impacts and repair the damaged infrastructure.

In the aftermath of the incident, United Utilities constructed a two-kilometre temporary bypass around the damaged pipe, installed additional pumping equipment and used tankers to transport wastewater to other treatment works. The damaged pipe was subsequently repaired and the Fleetwood site returned to full service.

The company spent more than £38 million in the initial incident response - including a £250,000 donation to Blackpool Council to provide immediate support to the tourism industry.

A further £66 million is being invested replacing the treated wastewater pipe with a new permanent solution to increase long-term infrastructure resilience in the area. The project is expected to be completed by November.

As part of the £100 million commitment, United Utilities is funding a number of local projects, including £1.5 million towards a new public paddling pool and splash park in Fleetwood.

In addition to the new public paddling pool and splashpark, United Utilities will also fund the refurbishment of the Fleetwood Marine Lake, used by open-water swimmers, and contribute to facility upgrades for the Fleetwood Beach Wheelchair Charity.

Chris Borradaile, Director for Wastewater Services, said:

"We want to reiterate our sincere and unreserved apologies for this incident and the harm and disruption it caused. We accept responsibility for what happened and recognise that we fell short of the standards our customers and communities rightly expect.

“Since then, our focus has been on putting things right. We have committed more than £100 million to our response, including a permanent engineering solution to increase the resilience of our infrastructure, which is on track to be delivered three years earlier than would normally be expected for a project of this scale.

“Following consultation with local representatives, we are also investing in a range of community projects that will deliver lasting benefits for the people of Fleetwood and the Fylde coast.”