Northern Ireland Water (NIW) has been fined £2,000 plus court costs for a major sewage pollution offence.

A dairy distribution depot in Essex has been fined £30,000 for allowing milk to escape from their premises and pollute a watercourse in Barking.

South West Water was ordered to pay £32,967 in fines and costs in court last week for a series of illegal sewage discharges into Salcombe harbour.

South West Water has been ordered to pay £39,365 in fines and costs for a pollution incident which occurred close to a shellfishery, allowing sewage to escape into the River Dart near Galmpton in South Devon. Telemetry problems and pump failure were contributory factors in the incident.

Thames Water has been ordered to pay £61,049 after devastating the aquatic life in two rural brooks in Hampshire and Berkshire killing between 7,500 and 22,000 fish.

The Environment Agency has confirmed that river life along a seven mile stretch of a tributary of the River Thames has been wiped out following a devastating raw sewage spill.

Scottish Water was fined £7,500 at Dornoch Sheriff Court on Monday for allowing untreated sewage to discharge to a Brora burn for a week, resulting in a number of fish deaths.

WWF has reiterated a call for a moratorium on any shale gas activity in the UK and highlighted its concerns over water contamination as Cuadrilla Resources announced the results of exploratory drilling near Blackpool.

Last week the Environment Agency released a list of the ten most improved rivers in England and Wales. Conservationists have criticised the report saying it presents a rosy view of river health and ignores the many waterways struggling with pollution, over abstraction and other threats.

Chemical company Esterchem Ltd was ordered to to pay a financial penalty of £25,000 at Stoke-on-Trent Magistrates’ Court after pleading guilty to one charge of polluting the Leek Brook and two charges of failing to comply with the conditions of their environmental permit last Friday.