River Severn sewage: Protesters march in Shrewsbury

About 100 protesters have marched in Shrewsbury to highlight the issue of sewage being discharged into the River Severn.

The event on Saturday, organised by local campaign group Up Sewage Creek, followed the river's route to points where raw sewage is discharged.

The protest comes in the wake of a nationwide uproar over the dumping of sewage in the UK's waterways.

Severn Trent said it was "working hard to use overflows less".

Claire Kirby, from the protest group, said: "As Shrewsbury residents, we're fed up of seeing our beautiful river, and the footpaths around it, ruined by human excrement and sanitary waste.

"The Severn is the jewel in Shrewsbury's crown and loads of people, including children, swim, canoe and paddleboard on it... we have had enough."

The protesters also said they were frustrated that local MP Daniel Kawczynski "hasn't done more to protect the Severn" during recent Commons debates on the Environment Bill.

The House of Lords had proposed putting a legal duty on water firms to reduce untreated sewage discharges, but ministers rejected the amendment and the government's Environment Bill was approved earlier in the month,

Following pressure from peers and campaigners, the government put forward its own alternative, which was voted through.

Mr Kawczynski said: "I remain adamant that the amount of sewage discharged by water companies into our rivers is unacceptable. Water companies must significantly reduce sewage discharges from storm overflows as a priority.

"If we do not start to see significant improvements, government will also have powers to order water companies to act at a faster rate."

Mark Cheetham, one the people who took part in the march, said: "There's an overwhelming awareness in the country and locally, that there's unacceptable rates of dumping of raw sewage in our river systems.

"In 2020 there were 500,000 discharges of raw sewage of rivers in England and Wales, and that's quite frankly unacceptable."

Severn Trent added: "The current debate is around the use of storm overflows which are used in heavy rain and are made up of almost all rainwater and only account for 3.5% of rivers not achieving good ecological status.  

"We are working hard to use overflows less and we are investing £100m a year to go even further in improving rivers so that nature can continue to thrive."

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