Environment Secretary Ranil Jayawardena MP has announced that he will bring forward proposals to raise the civil penalty for water companies who pollute the environment by 1,000-fold - from £250,000 to up to £250 million.

The Environment Agency’s programme of improvements across Yorkshire has created or improved more than 82 hectares of habitat in the past year.

The Government has announced that water companies will face the strictest targets on pollution from sewage ever under a new plan to tackle sewage discharges published today.

Southern Water is investigating the release of untreated wastewater into the sea at Bexhill on the evening of 17th August 2022, leading to a spill that has impacted bathing water quality.

Yorkshire Water has been fined £1,600,750 for polluting a Bradford watercourse in a prosecution brought by the Environment Agency. It was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £170 and £22,112.79 in costs.

Yorkshire Water has agreed to donate a total of £400,000 to Yorkshire Wildlife Trust after polluting two watercourses in separate incidents, following investigations by the Environment Agency.

Frome farmer Michael Aylesbury, a director of Cross Keys Farms Ltd, has been ordered to pay more than £25,000 for polluting the River Frome, Frome, Somerset.

Dairy Crest, the maker of popular brands like Cathedral City and others, has been fined £1.5 million - the largest fine ever awarded for an Environment Agency conviction in the South West.

Anglian Water has been fined £300,000 for Essex river pollution after pollution from a water pumping station caused the death of over 5,000 fish in an Essex river.

The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) has welcomed the Government response to its report, Water quality in rivers, as demonstrating a welcome shift in attitude and an increase in Government ambition on water quality after decades of inaction.