Water firms 'releasing sewage into waterways in dry weather' says campaign group
Surfers Against Sewage says it happened 146 times in the past year
A campaign group claims water companies released sewage into waterways 146 times during dry weather over the past year.
Surfers Against Sewage say it's only supposed to happen during period of exceptional rainfall.
The group has been highlighting a number of incidents off the Cornish coast recently - though South West Water says a case St Agnes in October was actually mud flowing into the sea.
SAS head of campaigns and policy Amy Slack said: "Over the last year, the UK public has made clear their disgust at what's happening to our rivers and seas, and yet water companies continue to pollute at will.
"It's especially alarming to uncover evidence of potentially illegal activity by water companies in the form of 'dry spills', which are not permitted under current regulations.
"Shareholders and CEOs are unashamedly profiteering off pollution.
"The Government is complicit in the sewage scandal, failing to enforce and strengthen regulations to protect the health of the UK's waterways - and the health of its citizens.
"Politicians are simply kicking the can down the road, legitimising sewage pollution for the next 27 years through the sewage action plan published this summer."
A Water UK spokesman said: "Companies agree there is an urgent need to tackle storm overflows. They are set to launch one of the country's largest ever infrastructure programmes, which, if approved by regulators, will deliver £56 billion of improvements for our rivers and seas.
"That builds on at least £3 billion of improvements in the last couple of years alone.
"To accelerate progress further, we need Government to end housing developers' uncontrolled connections to sewers without first knowing their capacity, and to end the flushing of wet wipes made from materials that cause blockages and fatbergs.
"Both are major causes of sewer overloading and spills. We also need Government to implement existing legislation in order to increase the use of sustainable drainage systems on new developments as a means of reducing the volume of rainwater entering the sewer system."