GB News host Bev Turner has demanded British water companies to take "accountability" for sewage spills, as the latest figures have revealed a record high for the country's waters.
New data published by the Environment Agency has shown that 2023 was the worst year on record for raw sewage spills in England.
With it estimated to be the equivalent of "almost 4,000,000 hours" of raw sewage being released into waterways, the figures reveal a 54 per cent increase in the number of sewage spills compared to 2022, and a 13 per cent increase compared to 2020.
Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey, has called on the government to declare a "national environmental emergency", and warned the Conservatives that the ongoing sewage scandal is "ruining the country’s rivers and beaches and pushing ecosystems to the brink of collapse".
Bev Turner raged at the latest figures on sewage spillages in the UK
GB News
Reacting to the latest data, GB News host Bev Turner said she was "very wound up" about the reports and said she normally "loves a swim in the outdoors".
Reading messages from GB News viewers, Bev shared Jen's story from Dymchurch, who said the sewage is so bad in her village that "whales and sea life have washed up dead, dogs get sick with bad tummies, local swimmers don't swim anymore, and having discreet signs up saying don't swim drive away the families that come to our children's paradise".
Cohost Andrew Pierce said if water companies follow their current plans for sewage spills, they will not have fixed the problem "until 2050".
Bev was shocked, responding: "That's another 26 years!"
Raw sewage spills have amounted to almost four million hours of waste, new data has revealed
PA
Andrew revealed: "Water bosses last year were paid £10million in salary and they've got a further £10million in bonuses. And two directors at Severn Trent, which put sewage into the river 45,000 times last year, two of them got paid £3.5million."
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Andrew raged: "They shouldn't be paid anything. They should be facing potentially criminal prosecutions because it should be criminal to load all this pollution into our rivers."
Bev agreed, asking: "Where were the adults? Where are the adults that are meant to be running this country? It's a complete deficit of accountability.
"To some degree, I think it is the fact that we've got so many more people now."
Andrew added: "And also the pipes are too small. They're not up to it, and they should have been replaced years ago, and they haven't been, because they've spent too much money on the directors bonus and shareholders bonuses."
Andrew Pierce said water companies will not have got a grip on the issue until 2050, according to latest plans
GB News
GB News viewer Jim shared his thoughts on the sewage scandal, asking: "Why are we not building any sewage farms for all the houses we're building, they're being connected to existing systems, a large amount of which are Victorian."
On average last year there were 1,271 spills a day across England, compared to 825 in 2022.
The UK has combined sewage systems, which means if there is too much rain, sewage treatment works can be overwhelmed.
Water UK has said firms would invest a record £14.4billion in return for customers’ money, to ensure supply security and "significantly reduce" the amount of sewage in rivers and seas.