Swindon Labour councillors demand action against Thames Water following local sewage spills
The councillors have tabled a motion asking for urgent action against the water company.
Swindon’s Labour councillors are demanding urgent action against Thames Water after figures showed hundreds of hours of sewage spills in local rivers.
This comes after revelations from Channel 4’s Dirty Business and new national data which shows the scale of sewage dumping across England’s rivers.
Last week, the council's Labour Group tabled a motion for action against the water company. In the motion they say the River Ray and Danes Brook in Swindon have been polluted by raw sewage repeatedly— In 2024, there were 48 sewage dumps into the River Ray totalling 629 hours, and an astonishing 150 incidents over 2,859 hours in Danes Brook.
The party is calling for Thames Water to be brought into public ownership and for a ban on shareholder pay-outs.
Cllr Jim Robbins, Leader of Swindon Borough Council, said: “Residents are rightly furious. Our rivers are being treated as open sewers while Thames Water’s shareholders continue to profit. This is unacceptable, and Swindon will not stay silent.”
“We are calling on the Prime Minister to bring Thames Water back into public ownership. Also, the Government must strengthen regulation and STOP Thames Water from paying out any further dividends until every river in our region meets the clean water standards.”
Thames Water previously announced it'd be investing 5 billion pounds to upgrade hundreds of sewage treatment works.