Industry criticised as pollution incidents rise by 60%

WITH the exception of Severn Trent, England's embattled water companies have chalked up their lowest environmental performance ratings on record, with serious pollution incidents up 60% last year.

- 

The Environment Agency called for a fundamental shift in culture and behaviour from firms in the light of “poor” results across the sector.

Overall, the nine companies collectively achieved just 19 stars out of a possible 36 in 2024, down from the 25 in 2023 and the lowest since the process started in 2011.

Severn Trent accounted for four of those stars.

Beleaguered Thames Water, which is beset by financial problems, was alone in scoring the worst rating of just one star, as it saw serious pollution incidents more than double to 33 cases last year. The rest of the companies only managed two stars, the report showed.

The Environment Agency (EA) said the criteria for the annual environmental performance assessment has tightened over time and the trend since 2011 has been one of improvement, but that came to an end in 2024.