WATER firms discharged more than 100,000 of hours-worth of sewage at 65 popular swimming sites in England since May.

Sewage overflow pipes released a total of 117,001 hours between mid-May and July 21, campaigners revealed today.

Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) slammed privately owned utilities for polluting “without punishment,” even in the country’s most well-visited swimming sites.

They used real-time discharge data provided by water suppliers, showing the releases came from 1,165 combined sewage overflows located near popular beaches, rivers and lakes.

SAS community water quality manager Kirsty Davies warned that “supposedly ‘excellent’ water quality doesn’t mean a thing if a water company continues to dump sewage, breaching guidance and showing a total lack of care for people or the environment.

“Even in the most well-used recreational hotspots, water companies are polluting without punishment,” she said.

Some of the 129 overflow sites affecting the 65 bathing areas breached Environment Agency (EA) guidelines which allow two spills for a site to be classed as “excellent” or three for the beach to be rated “good,” “sufficient” or “poor,” SAS explained.

These latest revelations will add pressure to the private water sector, opposed by the majority of Brits, with 80 per cent calling for public ownership of water utilities, according to a YouGov poll this year.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has pledged to increase “public control” of the industry, without detailing his approach.

SAS pointed to the worst-performing sewage overflow pipe in England, owned by Yorkshire Water and located near Whitby beach. It has seen 21 spills since mid-May but the EA still classed it as “excellent.”

Data collected by the surfers indicates private water companies are on track for a higher number of sewage discharges this swimming season than last year.

They also received 275 reports of people falling sick since May 15, including 149 at bathing waters rated excellent or good.

Yorkshire Water said it did “not agree” with SAS’s interpretation of its data, claiming identified overflow “does not impact bathing water.”

Industry body Water UK said: “No sewage spill is ever acceptable, and water companies are investing £24 billion to improve the environment by 2030, prioritising action at bathing waters and other sensitive sites.”