Water companies that dump sewage in rivers and seas will face fines of up to £250m, the new environment secretary has said.

Ranil Jayawardena told water companies if they do not do more to prevent waste flowing into open water, he will bring in an up to 1,000-fold increase in civil fines.

“On my first day in office I met water company bosses to give them their report card. I’ll be polite: could do better,” he was set to tell the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham on Monday.

“I asked them to write to me with their plans to accelerate investment in infrastructure. They did and now they must deliver.

“Privatisation has put in £170bn of investment into our water infrastructure already, and the private sector will now put in another £56bn more.

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“And, if they don’t deliver, I can confirm to you today that we will take forward plans to lift the Environment Agency’s maximum civil fine for each individual breach of the rules from up to just £250,000, to up to £250m.”

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The plan involves launching a formal consultation on lifting the current £250,000 cap for Environment Agency fines for water firms that breach environmental rules.

There has been growing public outrage at the volume of raw or partially treated sewage pumped into the UK’s rivers and coastal waters.

Water firms are being criticised for not investing money back into the UK’s outdated water infrastructure, with mounting pressure on ministers to intervene.

At Labour’s conference last week, shadow environment secretary Jim McMahon said water bosses would face prison sentences for the worst pollution incidents under a Labour government.

He said his party would introduce a legally binding target to end 90% of sewage discharges by 2030 and stronger sanctions and fines for bosses and companies who fail to do so.

Labour also attacked Prime Minister Liz Truss’s record while she was environment secretary, blaming her for £24m of funding cuts for environmental protection.

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