A drop in the ocean – United Utilities fined for pollution

United Utilities has been fined £900,000 after pleading guilty to five environmental offences linked to a serious sewage incident on the Fylde Coast in June 2023.

A wastewater pipe installed at the wrong depth almost three decades earlier, and never properly surveyed, had reduced the capacity of Fleetwood Wastewater Treatment Works by more than half. When it collapse in 2023 untreated sewage was discharged from pumping stations across the Fylde Coast for 35 hours.

The incident coincided with the start of the Scottish summer holidays and undermined a £600,000 tourism advertising campaign by Blackpool Council, while the wider fall in visitor numbers was estimated to run into the hundreds of thousands.

The outcome of this case confirms what has become increasingly obvious to all of us on the Fylde Coast – United Utilities has failed to meet the responsibilities that come with running such an important public service and local communities have been left to deal with the consequences.

Since my election, I have been campaigning to tackle the pollution of our waters and the damage that repeated sewage discharges are doing to our coastline, our businesses and our reputation.

The incident before the court today was particularly serious and it’s right that United Utilities has been held to account. But a £900,000 fine is a drop in the ocean compared with the profits the company is making, and it pales in comparison to the economic and reputational damage that has been felt here. People and businesses in Blackpool have paid the price for this failure, while United Utilities continues to make hundreds of millions of pounds in profit.

And it’s not an isolated incident. United Utilities discharged sewage in Blackpool South for hundreds of hours last year – equivalent to more than 18 days.

Households are paying increasingly unaffordable water bills year after year, yet we continue to see pollution and ageing infrastructure. It’s totally unacceptable. United Utilities must be held accountable beyond this court hearing and I will be writing to the new Secretary of State for DEFRA to express this.

Our residents, businesses and visitors deserve better. Blackpool’s beaches should be a source of pride, not pollution.