Thames Water refuses to fund anti-pollution scheme

Thames Water has been under scrutiny over the issue of sewage discharges

Thames Water has not pledged any money towards a joint £180m investment to prevent sewage spills.

The Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) announced the initiative on Monday, with water companies including Anglian, Severn Trent and Southern committing millions to try and prevent more than 8,000 sewage spills.

The government was disappointed by the firm's decision not to contribute to the fund, the BBC understands.

But Thames Water said it took pollution "extremely seriously" and was investing in other initiatives to improve performance.

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The government scheme aimed to reduce the number of sewage spills

Anglian Water is pledging £50m to the fund, Severn Trent £41m, United Utilities £39m, Southern £10m, and Wessex £8m.

Other water companies, such as Northumbrian and Yorkshire, have already announced additional investments, Defra said.

Environment Secretary Steve Barclay said the £180m investment would "mean more cutting-edge technology, including artificial intelligence, and more specialist staff to detect and reduce spills".

Thames Water has been under scrutiny in recent months, with data showing sewage spills in the Thames have quadrupled in the past year.

In a statement, it said: "We take the reduction in pollutions extremely seriously and are keen to ensure we reduce these significantly but are not able to offer the further acceleration in investment that has been asked for at this stage."

It said it had invested in other initiatives to manage sewage, including the £4.5bn Thames Tideaway Tunnel and planned upgrades to 250 sewage treatment works and sewers.