STINKING sewage was pumped into waters at Britain’s popular seaside towns for 125,000 hours last year, according to new analysis.
The waste from the toilets was taken to waterways that are popular among swimmers, 21,000 times.
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Morcambe, an important seaside community was worst affected by a horrendous 9,287 sewer backups.
According to the Lib Dems’ numbers, United Utilities was the most serious offender. They were responsible for 9 out of 10 longest sewage dumps.
The ship was taken to Allonby in Cumbria; St Annes near Blackpool; and New Brighton in Merseyside.
Bognor Regis, down south was the worst hit by Southern Water’s dumping of sewage over a period totaling 1,579 hours.
Unfortunately, the picturesque Jurassic Coast of Lyme Regis also suffered severe damage. South West Water discharged 1,492 hours worth of sewage to the ocean.
Lib Dem Environment spokesman Tim Farron said: “It is scandalous to see monster amounts of sewage dumps into waters our nation swims in, do these water company execs raking in millions know no shame?
“This is supposed to be protected water, not the home to sewage hotspots.
“These polluting firms are wreaking havoc on our nation’s waters and it cannot be allowed to continue.
“Ministers need to get a grip of this. Their half-baked plans just let water companies get away with it.”
The water firms dump sewage into rivers, seas and oceans when there’s too much rain. This prevents it from backing up on the streets.
This revelation puts water companies under more pressure after they were thrown into crisis by the sewage scandal.
No10 last week announced that companies would face uncapped fines if they dump sewage in rivers or seas.
A spokesman for the Environment Department said they have taken tougher action but “we know there is more to do”.
He added: “The Environment Secretary has demanded an action plan to tackle every storm overflow from every company in England, prioritising those near bathing waters.
“We are also consulting to give regulators more powers to impose much larger penalties for polluters without needing to go to court.”
A spokesman for United Utilities said: “We are committed to delivering a step change in performance, having reduced the operation of storm overflows by a third since 2020, and we know there is much more to do.”
The firm said it is fast tracking nearly £1 billion of works to reduce “storm overflows” and stop sewage being pumped into Britain’s oceans.