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Anglian Water TV advert banned due to sewage pollution record

Environment Agency Sewage that has poured off the bridleway into the tributary of Bourn BrookEnvironment Agency
The Environment Agency said this image showed Anglian Water sewage that poured into the tributary of Bourn brook in Cambridgeshire in 2019

An Anglian Water TV advert has been banned because it failed to mention the firm's history of releasing sewage into rivers.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said it received nine complaints about the advert which was seen in September and October last year.

The broadcast promoted how the company built wetlands.

Anglian Water, which operates in the East of England, said it "fully accepted" the ruling.

An ASA spokesperson said: "We accepted that Anglian Water were carrying out a number of activities that could have a positive impact on the environment.

"However, because they also carried out activities that caused harm to the environment, which contradicted the overall impression of the ad, we considered that was material information which should have been made clear in the ads.

"We concluded that the ads omitted material information and were therefore misleading."

Getty Images Jaywick seafrontGetty Images
Anglian Water was fined £2.65m in April after millions of litres of untreated sewage overflowed into the North Sea at Jaywick in Essex

The advert featured a girl, who said "Anglian Water is creating wetlands to clean water using nature and make homes for wildlife".

She added: "Everything they do today is for tomorrow."

Scenery included fields, wildlife, a wind turbine and an Anglian Water-branded van, with text on its side reading: "100% Electric 0% Emissions".

The company, based in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, received an Environmental Performance Assessment (EPA) rating of two stars out of four for the most recently published year of 2021, and was told it "requires improvement".

The EPA report said the firm experienced 14 "serious pollution incidents" that year.

The firm was fined £2.65m in April - a record for the prosecuting Environment Agency - after millions of litres of untreated sewage overflowed into the North Sea in Essex.

It was fined £1.2m last year after admitting causing river pollution across three counties.

Anglian Water said it only discharged "highly diluted sewage" when there were storms that could overwhelm the network and flood homes.

It said the discharges had a "negligible environmental impact on the receiving watercourse and was permitted by the Environmental Agency".

TazzyBro Photography Protest by the StourTazzyBro Photography
Wild swimmers in Manningtree, Essex, staged protests after incidents - according to Rivers Trust data - of Anglian Water releasing sewage into the River Stour

A spokeswoman added: "We care deeply about helping look after our region and apologise that we unintentionally misled customers with this advertisement."

She said the company was investing almost £800m this year to "address issues related to spills, preserve water resources and protect against severe weather and flooding".

The regulator did not uphold similar complaints about an ad from Severn Trent Water - which operates in the Midlands and Wales - that promoted its tree planting programme.

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