MP blasts Government move to hike water bills to pay for sewage clean up
South Lakes MP Tim Farron has slammed Government plans to increase water bills for local families by £60 a year to fix Britain's Victorian sewage system.
Tim is calling for the cost of upgrading the failing sewer network to be passed on to water companies who last year made billions of pounds in profits, rather than families who are already struggling to pay the bills.
It comes as new statistics from the Rivers Trust found that water companies dumped sewage more than 2,800 times in South Lakeland last year for a duration of 36,265 hours.
This included:
- 1172 hours at Staveley wastewater treatment works into the River Kent
- 1348 hours at Grasmere wastewater treatment works into Grasmere Lake
- 1372 hours at Hawkshead wastewater treatment works into Black Beck
- 1809 hours at Milnthorpe sewage treatment plant into the River Bela
- 2710 hours at Coniston wastewater treatment works into Church Beck
Tim said: "This is a national scandal.
"The Government is letting water companies get away with polluting our rivers and poisoning animals. Now the public is expected to foot the bill for cleaning up this mess despite water companies raking in multi-billion pound profits.
"The whole thing stinks!
"Why aren't ministers listening to the public on this? They are ignoring the country's outrage at this scandal. The solution is staring us all in the face.
"The Government needs to get tough on these water companies to end this disgraceful practice. A Sewage Tax should also be introduced to make water companies pay for cleaning up our rivers."