United Utilities slapped with massive £900,000 fine after sewage spills hit Fylde coast tourist spots

United Utilities has been hit with a record £900,000 fine after raw sewage was discharged into the Fylde Coast for more than 35 hours, affecting popular tourist locations across Blackpool, Lytham and Fleetwood.

The company has been fined £964,225 in fines and costs at Preston Magistrates’ Court today (8 September) after pleading guilty to five environmental permit offences following a major pollution incident in Lancashire.

The Environment Agency investigation found the serious incident took place between 11 and 22 June 2023, when raw sewage was discharged into the Irish Sea from three coastal pumping stations over more than 35 hours in total across several days.

Sewage was reported on beaches and in marine recreational facilities, including Fleetwood baths. United Utilities' own modelling showed a sewage plume had reached seven designated bathing waters and significantly affected bathing water quality in the hours following the spills.

The Environment Agency subsequently issued ‘no bathing’ advice across all eight designated bathing waters along the affected coastline. Testing carried out during the incident by a trained citizen scientist was also indicative of E. coli, while three shellfish beds were temporarily closed by the Food Standards Agency due to public health concerns.

The contamination had a significant impact on communities and businesses along the coast, with popular tourist destinations including Blackpool and St Annes among those badly affected. In Blackpool alone, summer visitor numbers fell by hundreds of thousands compared with the previous year.

‘Unacceptable’

Andy Brown, Environment Agency’s Water Regulation Manager, said: “This was an unacceptable pollution incident which had far-reaching consequences for residents and businesses along the Fylde Coast.

“Our investigation found that United Utilities Water Limited discharged sewage outside the conditions of its environmental permits. The company admitted those breaches, and today’s record fine reflects the seriousness of the offences and the harm caused.

“Water companies have a fundamental responsibility to properly manage their assets and comply with the environmental permits designed to protect our rivers, seas and communities. When they fail to do so, we will hold them to account

“We will continue to rigorously regulate the water industry, investigate breaches and take action against companies that fail to meet their environmental obligations.”

Collapse of effluent pipe

The Environment Agency found that the incident began after the partial collapse of a final effluent pipe at Fleetwood Wastewater Treatment Works. The failure reduced the amount of sewage the site could receive and caused sewage to back up through the wider system.

Following periods of rainfall, sewage was discharged from three coastal pumping stations at Manchester Square, Anchorsholme and Chatsworth Avenue. Environmental permits held by United Utilities set strict conditions governing when sewage could be discharged from the pumping stations.

Further investigation of flow and spill data provided by the company found those conditions had not been met when the spills occurred. United Utilities admitted the breaches when interviewed under caution and pleaded guilty to five offences during a court hearing on 22 April 2026.

In the aftermath of the incident, the company constructed a two-kilometre temporary bypass around the damaged pipe, installed additional pumping equipment and used tankers to transport wastewater to other treatment works. The damaged pipe was subsequently repaired and the Fleetwood site returned to full service.

United Utilities also made a voluntary payment of £250,000 to Blackpool Council after images of the iconic tower were used alongside media reports of the incident. The council was in the middle of a high-paid advertising push for tourism, and the incident significantly harmed the image of the area.

United Utilities has put the cost of responding to and repairing the original incident at around £38 million and has since undertaken further work to improve the resilience of the wastewater network along the Fylde Coast.

The company accepted the Environment Agency's Category 1 classification of the incident. United Utilities was fined £900,000 and ordered to pay £62,225 in Environment Agency prosecution costs, along with a £2,000 victim surcharge. The company is classed as a Very Large Organisation for sentencing purposes and has an annual turnover of approximately £2.6 billion.

What has United Utilities said?

In response, United Utilities pointed out that it has committed more than £100 million in response to an incident at Fleetwood Wastewater Treatment Works in 2023.

After pleading guilty to five offences related to breaches of environmental permits at Preston Magistrates Court today, the company said the investment reflected its commitment to putting things right and delivering lasting benefits for the local communities that were impacted.

As part of that commitment, United Utilities says it is funding a number of local projects, including £1.5 million towards a new public paddling pool and splash park in Fleetwood.

The company said the incident occurred when a treated wastewater pipe leaving Fleetwood burst nine metres below ground, affecting the site's ability to treat flows at full capacity. During the repair period, there were occasions when storm overflows along the Fylde coast operated outside of their permit conditions while treatment capacity was restored.

In response, they say that more than 400 United Utilities employees and specialist contractors worked around the clock to maintain wastewater services, minimise environmental impacts and repair the damaged infrastructure.

The company claims it spent more than £38 million in the initial incident response - including the £250,000 donation to Blackpool Council - while a further £66 million is being invested replacing the treated wastewater pipe with a new permanent solution to increase long-term infrastructure resilience in the area. The project is expected to be completed by November.

United Utilities also said it will fund the refurbishment of the Fleetwood Marine Lake, used by open-water swimmers, and contribute to facility upgrades for the Fleetwood Beach Wheelchair Charity.

‘Sincere and unreserved apologies’

Chris Borradaile, Director for Wastewater Services, said: "We want to reiterate our sincere and unreserved apologies for this incident and the harm and disruption it caused. We accept responsibility for what happened and recognise that we fell short of the standards our customers and communities rightly expect.

“Since then, our focus has been on putting things right. We have committed more than £100 million to our response, including a permanent engineering solution to increase the resilience of our infrastructure, which is on track to be delivered three years earlier than would normally be expected for a project of this scale.

“Following consultation with local representatives, we are also investing in a range of community projects that will deliver lasting benefits for the people of Fleetwood and the Fylde coast.”