More than 6,000 hours of sewage dumped into River Avon and River Leam in 2022 - MP launches petition

A petition has been launched after yet more worrying statistics about how much sewage is being dumped in our rivers.

The petition has been launched by Warwick and Leamington MP Matt Western, who has raised the issue in Parliment.

Data from ‘Top of the Poops’ has shown that a total of 6,627 hours of sewage were dumped into the River Avon and River Leam in 2022.

There were 980 sewage dumps into the River Avon over the period, totalling 5,717 hours of sewage dumping and 210 dumps into the River Leam, totalling 910 hours.

These figures are the equivalent of sewage being discharged into River Avon 2.7 times a day.

In 2021, more than 200 ‘sewage dumps’ took place in Leamington and Warwick rivers - which was up by 83 (67 per cent) in just a year.

The issue of sewage dumping locally has been raised numerous times by Mr Western. Most recently he invited the Secretary of State for the Environment, Thérèse Coffey, to “don a cozzie” and take a dip in the River Avon. The MP says the Secretary of State has not taken him up on his offer.

Matt Western said: "I know how valued our waterways are, particularly in the summer months and school holidays when families look to the rivers for a day out and chance to cool off. However, they are now faced with the prospect that our much-loved waterways could very easily be full of sewage."

“The state of our waterways is shocking, and it is disgraceful that the Government have allowed water companies to get away with dumping sewage into them for so long."

You can sign the petition here: https://mattwestern.org/campaign/protect-our-waterways/