Thames Water poured raw sewage into the River Mole for thousands of hours in January - pollution hit 10x the legal limit. Recent fixes in Horley and Dorking are a good start, but this level of pollution is outrageous – it’s taking too long to deliver the full upgrades Thames Water have promised, to clean-up our rivers. 

I have written to the COO of Thames Water and spoke to BBC Surrey about this. 

I’m delighted to share that after persistent pressure and raising the alarm with the Environment Agency, Ofwat, and the Flooding Minister, Thames Water have finally listened and completed emergency upgrades at Horley Sewage Works. Every time it rained, families here risked sewage flooding in their homes. Now, with the new overflow pipe and tanks in place, residents near Horley STW will be protected from sewage spills. Thank you to everyone who campaigned with me to achieve this.

Sewage flooded my constituent Steve’s garden and devalued his home by 30%.

He received £30 in compensation whilst Thames Water earmarked nearly £20 million to incentivise managers not to jump ship. £30 is not compensation - it's an insult.

ITV News reported on this:

Thames Water has been flooding sewage into peoples’ homes. I’ve pushed them to do emergency work to fix the Horley sewage plant since I was elected and they now are. It should be completed by the end of July. This is part of a broader £37mn investment I’ve helped secure to improve sewage issues across the Mole Valley catchment area. I’m still working on compensation for residents and Thames’s longer term plans to cope with new housing, but am very pleased Thames is taking this action.

When dog owners leave dog mess, they get fined. We should treat Thames Water mess the same. 

I have reported them to Ofwat on this too.

Thames Water have been fined their largest ever penalty of £122.7m for breaching rules over sewage spills and shareholder pay outs.

I am pleased OFWAT is finally holding Thames Water to account, after I repeatedly reported their horrendous breaches, including sewage flooding my constituents gardens, to OFWAT and the Environment Agency.

Following my sustained pressure on these sewage spills, Thames Water promised £37 million worth of investment in upgrading the River Mole Catchment Network and to prioritise fixing the Horley Sewage Treatment Works.

Listen to my BBC Radio Surrey interview regarding the Thames Water fine: