Broads river stretch revealed as sewage hotspot

Sewage overflowed into the River Ant at Ludham for 180 days last year

A stretch of river close to a Norfolk landmark has been revealed as the county's sewage hotspot.

Environment Agency figures show the storm overflow near How Hill, in Ludham, recorded 4,359 hours of "spills" in 2024 - equivalent to 180 days - into the River Ant.

The releases came from storm overflows, which dump untreated sewage into rivers and the sea, usually during periods of heavy rainfall to stop sewers from backing up and flooding.

An Anglian Water spokeswoman said: "We know our customers will be disappointed to see an increase in our storm overflow data this year."

How Hill House stands close to the River Ant, where sewage has been discharged due to storm overflows

In the whole of the Broads, spills occurred on 1,162 occasions, lasting a total of 8,913 hours.

As a whole, releases across Norfolk rose by 20%.

Spills from the Knackers Wood sewage works – which empty into the River Ant between How Hill and Ludham Bridge – were more than double the amount in the previous year.

It is about four miles (6.4km) away from an overflow site on the River Bure in the parish of Belaugh, near Wroxham, which had the highest number of spills in 2023.

'Sensitive location'

A Broads Authority (BA) spokesman said: "Given the sensitive location, we are disappointed to read these figures detailing excessive discharge into the River Ant and Bure.

"We are aware of the issues at the site, which is currently at capacity.

"For this reason, both the BA and North Norfolk District Council do not look favourably against new developments in the area that will increase foul water flows to the site."

Storm overflows are only supposed to be used in exceptional circumstances to prevent the system from backing up and flooding buildings with sewage.

Environment Agency permits allow them to be used at certain times, but water companies have been fined for breaking the law by using them on other occasions.

Anglian Water has its headquarters in Huntingdon and is responsible for water supply and sewage services across the East of England and further afield

Anglian Water has said it will spend £1bn to tackle spills as part of an £11bn package to improve its performance overall.

The company blamed high water levels obscuring the data from its sensors at Knackers Wood and said extreme weather at the start of the year accounted for 50% of its spills.

An Anglian Water spokeswoman said the issue was "largely reflective of the extreme weather and persistent flooding we saw across our region in the first part of 2024, which accounted for nearly 50% of our spills".

"We have promised transformational action - because we know our climate is going to keep changing, so we have to find better ways of dealing with extreme rainfall," she added.

MPs want change

Steffan Aquarone, Liberal Democrat MP for North Norfolk, said: "The latest figures clearly show how deep the sewage scandal goes, and I am disgusted that Anglian Water will be putting bills up once again in a week's time."

He has demanded the firm spend money on improving sewage infrastructure, rather than "lining the pockets of shareholders".

Jerome Mayhew, Conservative MP for Broadland, added: "We all want sewage discharges to be stopped as quickly as possible now they have been exposed by universal monitoring."

Clive Lewis, Labour MP for Norwich South, has called for water firms to be nationalised and wants to give the government power to take away water company licences if they have three major sewage spills.