London, September 30, 2026 – The Europe Today: South West Water has been fined £7,867,733 after pleading guilty to 18 environmental offences involving illegal sewage discharges and failures to take adequate remedial action across Devon and Cornwall, according to the Environment Agency. The penalty, imposed at Plymouth Magistrates’ Court, is the largest environmental fine recorded in the region.
The offences occurred between January 2015 and July 2021 at locations including Bodmin, Harlyn, Playing Place, Polperro and Plymouth. Seventeen charges related to illegal water-discharge activities, while another concerned the failure to take reasonable remedial measures following a sewage pumping-station failure.
Among the incidents cited by the court, untreated sewage was discharged onto Harlyn beach on 231 occasions between January 2016 and July 2021. At sewage works near Bodmin, 336 illegal spills were recorded over the seven years to March 2020. In August 2019, untreated sewage also flowed through the harbour wall at Polperro during a bank holiday weekend, with engineers taking 10 hours to attend after alarms were triggered.
The court also heard that South West Water failed for several years to permanently address a sewer problem in Plymouth despite formal warnings from the Environment Agency. The company was ordered to pay an additional £329,993 in costs and a £120 victim surcharge.
The Environment Agency said the incidents affected bathing waters, a designated Special Area of Conservation and other sensitive habitats. South West Water described the offences as historical matters and said it was investing £760 million to improve its infrastructure. The company also said sewage spills had fallen by 17% and spill duration by 25% over the previous year.
