£120m of pollution fines to go to environmental projects

POLLUTION fines of more than £100 million will go to environmental projects, the Government has confirmed after concerns it would backtrack on a pledge first made by the Tories.

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The Environment Department (Defra) said more than £100 million in fines and penalties levied on water firms for breaches such as illegal sewage spills since October 2023 as well as future fines - will be reinvested in projects to clean up England's waters.

These could include local programmes to address pollution and improve water quality.

The announcement comes as the Government attempts to grapple with the problems engulfing the water sector in the face of high public anger over the degraded and polluted state of rivers, lakes and coasts, rising bills, bosses' bonuses and shareholder payouts.