River campaign group slams authorities over sewage leakages during Shropshire flooding

Activists from Up Sewage Creek found several places in town where manhole covers were overflowing over the weekend, with signs that human excrement and sanitary products were being released into the river untreated.

And the flooding has since got far worse, with large parts of the town left submerged until the river started to recede on Tuesday.

Claire Kirby, a spokesperson for the group said: ‘We were shocked to find lots of places where the sewer system was dumping human excrement and sanitary products into the river right in front of our eyes.

"The Pig Trough at Coton Hill was flooded and the gate had been left open which meant there was no damage limitation in place.

"We also found manhole covers in Bagley Brook and Greenfields Gardens that were overflowing. Given how high the flood water is at the moment, these won’t be the only places where this is happening."

Campaigners said their attempts to report the sewage issues to the authorities proved more difficult than expected after they were told there was no official way to identify the locations.

She called for the sewage outflows to be properly marked so that they can be reported to water companies like Severn Trent, as well as the Environment Agency.

A Severn Trent spokesperson said it had teams working 24 hours a day trying to minimise the impact of storms Dudley, Eunice and Franklin.

They said heavy rainfall had "overwhelmed" parts of the network in Shropshire, adding: "Under these extreme conditions, the network is designed to protect customers’ homes and businesses, by redirecting water to nearby water courses.

“We’re aware of the flooding at Bagley Brook and the Pig Trough and our teams have been out at these sites throughout the weekend and again today, to clear up the after-effects of the stormy weather.

“We can’t protect our rivers alone. All of the agencies responsible for surface water must work together to reduce pressure on our sewer network. Customers can play their part too, by only flushing pee, poo and paper down the loo."

Severn Trent added that it understands the strong feeling among people in Shropshire around the health of rivers, particularly along stretches of the River Severn, is investing £100 million in rivers every year and is committed to ensuring its work causes cause no harm to rivers by 2030.

Last weekend saw a lone protester braved the elements to stage a one-man demonstration about the sewage issue on the banks of the Severn near Castlefields.

The protestor called Ross who dressed up as local MP Daniel Kawczynski and said: "Everyone in Shrewsbury knows that raw sewage is flowing into the Severn at a shocking rate.

"It is unacceptable that in 2020 in the Shrewsbury and Atcham ward alone there were 2,514 sewage releases into our streams and rivers across 48 sites involving amounting to 30,083 hours duration of raw sewage polluting the Severn and its tributaries.

"Our MP has had 17 years to do something about this, but he’s been asleep at the wheel.”

In response Mr Kawczynski said: "Sewage in our public water ways is unacceptable.

"I was pleased to see, just last year that the government began to tighten the legal framework which ties water companies to their social responsibility of ensuring a significant reduction in storm overflows.

"I supported and still do, the package of measures voted through in the House of Commons which set out a strategy for water companies to be held accountable for storm sewage, and the measures this government would take to ensure that water companies are held to the standard we expect from our citizens.

"Ofwat has been challenged by the government to incentivise water companies to go another step further, to invest heavily in methods that would significantly reduce the use of storm overflows.

"By doing so, we are looking for long-term, realistic and sustainable solutions that will not place further financial costs on our citizens.

Mr Kawczynski said he had met recently with a group of residents in the constituency to hear first-hand, of their experiences.

"I believe, as I told the constituents who met with me, that Severn Trent Water should be just as accountable to their customers as they are to their shareholders," he said.

"It is essential that an action plan to reduce the use of storm sewage is drawn up immediately and made public for residents to be assured that the money that they are paying is indeed being used in their best interest.

"I have sent to Severn Trent Water a list of questions around the actions that they are looking to take immediately for long term improvement.

"I can guarantee that if STW can pull together a viable plan to best serve the constituents of the Shrewsbury and Atcham, they would have my full support.

"I look forward to receiving their responses and welcome any constituent with complaints about the storm sewage to contact me."