£10m water firm fines used to fund restorations

MORE than £10 million in water company fines has been channelled towards restoring waterways affected by sewage pollution, the Government has said.

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Restoring riverbeds in Exmoor National Park and tackling septic tank spills into Windermere are among the 51 projects that have won funding across England.

Some of the projects aimed at cleaning up rivers, lakes and seas across England involve active restoration measures such as restoring floodplains and rewilding, while others involve assessments of water quality and the development of improvement plans. The money has been ring-fenced from millions paid in fines by five water firms - Anglian Water, South West Water, Thames Water, Yorkshire Water and United Utilities - after causing pollution incidents between April 2022 and October 2023.