Sewage spillages occurred at sites across Blackpool, Fylde, Wyre and Preston last year, says the Rivers Trust

Similar discharges have polluted every corner of England and Wales in the last year, says the Rivers Trust which has used data from the Environment Agency.

These leaks have occurred at United Utilities pumping stations in Fleetwood, Thornton, Pilling, Preesall, Weeton and Great Eccleston, as well as at Anchorsholme and Blackpool’s Machester Square, with the various discharges being offloaded either into the River Wyre, the Irish Sea or smaller dyke systems.

A number of facilities in the Preston area are included in the data.

Only last month there was a sewage alert in the sea of the Fylde coast and people were warned not to swim or even paddle in the sea, for more than a week,

The water industry has been under widespread pressure from the public and the government to clean up its performance after recording almost 400,000 sewage dumping incidents in England and Wales in 2022, totalling to 3.3 million hours of pollution pouring into the country’s waterways.

The industry has committed to making changes.

Earlier this year Water UK, the industry regulator, apologised on behalf of companies for “not acting quickly enough” to tackle sewage spills and announced a multi-billion pound investment plan to upgrade the country’s crumbling Victorian sewage systems.

Pollution in Blackpool, Wyre, Fylde and Preston

Discharges into the River Wyre included spillages at pumping stations/sewage works at Preesall (355.63 hours of discharge), Pilling (1.93 hours), Skippool (462.15) and slightly further afield at Scorton (268.92).

In the Irish Sea there were discharges at Fleetwood’s Chatsworth Avenue pumping station (31.17 hours), Anchorsholme (228.6) and Manchester Square, South Shore (61.59).

In the Barton treatment works on the edge of Preston there was spillage into Barton Brook (2270.96 hours), while at the Naze Lane Pumping Station there was a discharge into Pool Stream, a tributary of the River Ribble, for 1145 hours.

Why is data not available for 2023?

For swimmers looking to take a dip in their local river or sea at the weekend, finding out how clean the water is can be a challenge.

Currently only Thames Water and South West Water publish real-time information on sewage discharges but after major campaigning efforts all of England’s private water companies will publish real-time online data on sewage pollution spills by the end of this year.

What they say

Environmental campaigners at The Rivers Trust said it is “absolutely vital" that the data is published in a way that is accessible to the public.

A spokesperson said: “We want to see it all in one place, and with enough detail for people to see what’s happening on their nearest river or watercourse."