Southern Water: Campaigners protest against sewage leaks

Crowds have gathered outside Southern Water's headquarters to protest against sewage leaks.

Unite the union, which organised the protest, called for the service to be renationalised.

In a statement, Southern Water said it welcomed the chance to engage with protesters.

Dorothy MacEdo, chair of Unite Community Sussex Coast branch said: "This disgusting behaviour must be stopped.

"We need Southern Water to be brought back into public ownership, private companies have no right to own our water supplies," she said.

The company was fined a record £90m in July after it admitted to 6,971 illegal spills from 17 sites in Hampshire, Kent and West Sussex between 2010 and 2015.

In October, five beaches in Thanet were closed when untreated sewage was pumped into the sea and in July Bulverhythe Beach near Hastings was closed after a sewage pipe burst, flooding local beach huts.

Water companies are allowed to release sewage into rivers after certain weather events, such as prolonged periods of heavy rain.

This protects properties from flooding and prevents sewage from backing up into streets and homes.

Speaking earlier, George Wakely from Southern Water said: "We are already investing £1.5bn to reduce pollution by 80% by 2025 and just this week we've created a task force with the aim that by 2030 we can reduce storm overflows by a further 80%."

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