South West Water fined almost £8m for sewage spillages at Devon and Cornwall beauty spots

South West Water (SWW) has been fined almost £8m for hundreds of sewage spillages across Devon and Cornwall over a six-year period.

The sentence at Plymouth Magistrates' Court on Tuesday came after the water company pleaded guilty to 18 charges relating to incidents across Cornwall and Devon between January 2015 and July 2021.

The spillage sites included popular bathing spots and sensitive habitats at some of the most scenic places in the two counties, according to the Environment Agency (EA).

SWW was fined £7,867,733, the largest-ever fine imposed for environmental offences in the region. The figure includes £329,993 in costs and a £120 victim surcharge.

The company had previously admitted 17 charges of illegal water discharge activities, and one for failing to take reasonable remedial measures following failure at a pumping station, the EA said.

Untreated sewage was discharged onto Harlyn beach, a location popular with locals and tourists in Cornwall, on 231 occasions between January 2016 and July 2021.

There were 336 illegal spills in the seven years to March 2020 at SWW's sewage works near Bodmin.

District Judge Jo Matson said of this site: "I find the fact that such a large amount of spills were not picked up on by South West Water to be significant and incredibly concerning."

One of the incidents SWW was fined for saw untreated sewage "gush" through the harbour wall on a bank holiday weekend on 24 August 2019.

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Despite alarms firing, SWW took 10 hours to attend the incident, the judge said.

Judge Matson said that while SWW had pleaded guilty to the "horrendous" pollution offences, it had not been remorseful and instead tried to minimise its role in the offending.

'Communities deserve better'

Environment Secretary Angela Eagle said: "This sentence sends a clear message: if water companies wilfully ignore their obligations, they will face the full consequences of their actions.

"For six years, South West Water repeatedly broke the law, polluting our most visited and loved beaches. Communities across Devon and Cornwall deserve better."

An SWW spokesperson said: "These proceedings concern historic matters between 2015 and 2021 and the majority of the charges concerned the use of overflows in storm conditions. We're investing £760m to tackle storm overflows and have reduced spills by 17% in the last year alone, with spill duration down by 25%.

"Significant improvements have been made across the sites concerned including an upgraded treatment process at Scarletts Well in Bodmin, the upgrades at Harlyn pumping station and the replacement of pumps at Halvarras pumping station.

"These upgrades also include additional investment in the catchment to remove surface water and illegal connections into the drainage network.

"We apologise for what happened in the past, and we remain focused on the future as we deliver record levels of investment to achieve cleaner rivers and seas across the South West by 2040."

SWW has previously pleaded guilty to six criminal charges relating to spills at Holywell Sewage Pumping Station which will be dealt with at a later date.

The company was also fined £1.8m in July following a parasite outbreak which left hundreds ill in Brixham, Devon, and £2.15m in 2023 for 13 charges of causing pollution in the region.

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