Government may have broken law over sewage releases – watchdog

The UK government and regulators may have broken the law over how they regulate sewage releases, the UK’s environment watchdog has said. 

The Office for Environmental Protection announced its preliminary findings into an investigation on Tuesday.

The regulators and Defra now have two months to provide a response before a final decision is made. 

In response to the announcement the government said: “The volume of sewage discharged is completely unacceptable. That is why we are the first government in history to take such comprehensive action to tackle it”.

But it added: “While we do not agree with the OEP’s initial interpretations, which cover points of law spanning over two decades, we will continue to work constructively with the OEP on this issue.”