Labour politicians in Swindon have joined in the party’s calls for government ministers to press water company bosses to promise they will stop future raw sewage discharges on British beaches.

But the government says it is taking such action – which previous governments have not.

As the August Bank Holiday weekend approaches, the Labour Party has said more overflow discharges of sewage into the sea around Britain would be disastrous for seaside resort after two years of the Covid-19 pandemic.

And local party figures have joined in.

The environment spokesman for the Labour group of councillors in Swindon, Councillor Jane Milner-Barry said: “Since privatisation, the water companies have paid out an estimated £72 billion in dividends while a quarter of treated water now leaks away and sewage storage tanks are overflowing.

“The government must force the water companies to clean up their act.   With all the development continuing around Swindon, problems around water supply and the pollution of our watercourses will only get worse without urgent action. We are already seeing the impact of under-investment with the current leak that has killed thousands of fish and spread over seven miles into the River Thames from the River Ray in Swindon."

The recently adopted Parliamentary candidate for South Swindon, Heidi Alexander, said: "People have been talking to me about sewage and the impact on the local area, as well as beaches and rivers across the country.

“I was shocked to learn that in Swindon in 2021 2,070 hours’ worth of untreated sewage was dumped into rivers and streams around the town.  It is clear that the Conservative government has rolled over and allowed water companies to get away with this.

“Let me be clear, I would not have voted to allow this to happen like the current Conservative government has."

But the government says it is taking action that previous administrations, including Labour ones, did not.

Water Minister Steve Double said: “We are the first government to take action to tackle sewage overflows. We have been clear that water companies’ reliance on overflows is unacceptable and they must significantly reduce how much sewage they discharge as a priority.

“This is on top of ambitious action we have already taken including consulting on targets to improve water quality which will act as a powerful tool to deliver cleaner water, pushing all water companies to go further and faster to fix overflows.

“Work on tackling sewage overflows continues at pace and we will publish our plan in line with the September 1 statutory deadline.”

The Environment Agency says the capacity of the UK’s sewers, which carry both rainwater and waste water in the same papers to treatment works, can be exceeded at times during heavy rainfall, especially when the dry ground is unable to absorb the water quickly.

This can lead to inundation of sewage works and potential flooding of homes, roads and open spaces, and for this reason, the system is designed to overflow occasionally and discharge excess wastewater directly to the sea and rivers.

In 2021 Defra figures show Thames water spoiled sewage into rivers 14,000 times, the second lowest figure of England’s water companies.

A spokesperson for Thames Water said “Our aim will always be to try and do the right thing for our rivers and for the communities who love and value them.

"We regard all discharges of untreated sewage as unacceptable and will work with the government, Ofwat and the Environment Agency to accelerate work to stop them being necessary and are determined to be transparent."