THAMES Water was under fire today after the company dumped sewage in hundreds of locations across southern England following Storm Henk. 

In one incident in Horley in Surrey, raw sewage spilled from a flooded treatment works and spread to a public footpath. 

Simon Collins, from River Mole River Watch, said that the works had flooded four times since late October.

During a tour by Thames Water, he said he saw sludge tanks leaking, a “huge embarrassment” for the company.

After floods on Tuesday, he tested water pouring through the fence and discovered an exceptionally high level of phosphate, a sewage-related pollutant.

The Environment Agency called the spillage “completely unacceptable” and said it is investigating. 

Mr Collins said that the incidents show “a lack of investment over many years.”

He said that the facility is unmanned, leaving it up to volunteers to report any pollution. 

Tim Nunn, from Surfers Against Sewage, said: “Thames Water customers have suffered through years of mismanagement of their sewerage network while shareholders and executives were busy filling their pockets. 

“Without sufficient investment, the current infrastructure is clearly not fit for purpose.”

Paul de Zylva, nature campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: “The government assigns blame to the water companies, who do bear some responsibility. 

“But the root cause of the dire state of our rivers and seas is the government’s deliberate deregulation agenda and the underfunding of the agencies responsible for pollution control and monitoring water quality.

Dr Laura Foster, head of Clean Seas at the Marine Conservation Society, said the discharges “pose a very real, short-term health concern due to the presence of harmful bacteria and sewage related pollution.”

“Even more worryingly, these discharges contain highly persistent chemicals.

“These chemicals will remain within the environment long after the spills stop, causing environmental harm for generations to come.”

Caz Dennett from Extinction Rebellion pointed out: “The Environment Agency repeatedly calls these all-too-frequent incidents ‘completely unacceptable’ but the degree of inaction by the regulators and the water companies to remedy the problems indicate they have become acceptable, normalised.”

The climate group has launched the Don’t Pay for Dirty Water campaign, which encourages water bill payers to withhold paying the sewerage or waste water part of their bill.

“We need real action. If the regulators don’t have the clout then the people do.”