A Government 'crackdown' to punish water companies for pumping sewage into Britain's rivers, lakes and coast has failed to produce a single new prosecution, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Billed as the 'largest criminal action against water companies in history', Labour minister Steve Reed triumphantly announced a year ago that 81 probes had been launched into serious and significant pollution incidents.
But the MoS found that, apart from seven cases already going through the courts, not a single new charge has been laid by the Environment Agency.
Instead, responding to a Freedom of Information request, the regulator defended its prosecution record with the Yes Minister-style line: 'A significant or serious breach does not necessarily equate to a serious offence.'
It said that '58 of these referenced investigations are still ongoing'.
