Sewage spills causing 'obnoxious' smell from river

Steve Palmer says fish have disappeared from the River Sence

An investigation into claims raw sewage from new housing estates is polluting a river in Leicestershire has been launched by the Environment Agency.

People living in Donington le Heath, near Coalville, have reported brown froth and an "obnoxious" stench from the River Sence, even during dry periods.

They said sewage systems were overloaded and the pollution coincided with the building of thousands of new houses nearby.

The Rivers Trust is calling for better enforcement of pollution penalties and says all new housing should be planned around on-site drainage.

Steve Palmer said he often had to hold his nose when he crossed the river.

He said: "The smell is quite obnoxious. It sort of makes you catch your breath."

Locals report "a terrible smell" from the River Sence

Mr Palmer said: "It's an open sewer running through our villages and it is not acceptable."

He said no-one knew where the sewage had come from, but he and his wife had seen what they believed was raw waste flowing from a concrete culvert when there had been no rain.

Data from the Environment Agency shows that sewage was released into the river at Donington le Heath 256 times during 2023, for a total of 2,913 hours.

That equates to sewage being released for almost one third of the year.

Russell Johnson blames a lack of infrastructure for river pollution

Russell Johnson, chairman of Hugglescote and Donington le Heath Parish Council, said villagers started noticing river pollution not long after new housing developments were built around the villages.

"We used to have crayfish in here," he said.

"We used to have otters come up here.

"It doesn't happen any more because of the quality of the water."

Thousands of homes have been built beside the River Sence (highlighted in blue) near Donington le Heath and Hugglescote

Mr Palmer said he had raised his concerns with North West Leicestershire District Council and Severn Trent Water (STW).

The council said it was the water authority's responsibility to make sure that drainage was sufficient for new developments.

A spokesperson for the council said it consulted STW on both the Local Plan, which sets out where homes should generally be built, and individual planning applications.

It said the water company produced asset management plans to deal with that new growth.

But STW said while it could discuss the impact of new development with the developer, legally it had "no say in if a development can go ahead or not".

The Environment Agency said it would be investigating the pollution, and would hold anyone responsible for damaging the environment to account.

Ruth Needham, from the Trent Rivers Trust, said the body wanted more responsibility to fall on developers, something that was promised under legislation due to come into force this year.

"We would like to see the drainage of all new developments considered from day one - at planning stage - and not as an afterthought," she said.

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