A MP has called on the chief executive of South West Water to consider their position unless they make an immediate start on improving its infrastructure to tackle sewage pollution.

Newquay and St Austell MP Noah Law believes the water and wastewater company’s CEO Susan Davy should stand down if action is not taken.

The MP is meeting with South West Water as part of work to address 253 complaints from constituents about sewage discharges and pollution at beaches across St Austell and Newquay.

South West Water has unveiled plans to spend £700 million on improving infrastructure between 2030-2050 – reducing the company's pollution by 62 per cent, to no more than 10 incidents per site per year.

But Mr Law said that while the investment is welcome, SWW needs to enact works quickly, rather than delaying until the end of the investment period, as has become common for companies in the water industry.

“It would be unacceptable for South West Water to effectively say: ‘We’ll do it drekkly’, and deliver new infrastructure towards 2050. They must start now,” he said.

“Like me, constituents are upset, and tired of seeing disgusting sewage pollution spoil local beaches which are so integral to people’s quality of life, as well as business and tourism.

“This Government has introduced tough new legislation to hold water bosses more accountable and we have four criminal cases against South West Water in progress.

“But, in parallel, we also need South West Water to tackle the problem at source, by overhauling its water infrastructure as soon as possible. Having increased customers’ bills significantly, the company has a moral duty to deliver high quality infrastructure to optimise standards and manage costs in the long term.”

Mr Law spoke out after the first applications of the Government’s Water (Special Measures) Act – designed to clean up Britain’s seas and rivers and end the payment of bonuses to water company executives. It could see water bosses across the country jailed for up to five years and water companies fined hundreds of millions of pounds.

Under rules from Ofwat, South West Water has a statutory duty to maintain and upgrade infrastructure as part of its obligations to provide reliable, safe water and wastewater services.

“I look forward to meeting South West Water to discuss improvements to infrastructure and a wide range of other related issues such as increased bills. I am also tracking the number of incidents affecting our local beaches and South West Water has promised to work with me in addressing underlying issues. I will continue to update constituents,” said Mr Law.

A spokesperson for South West Water said: “We understand how important this issue is to our customers and communities and we’re already delivering real progress.

“We were one of only five water companies to reduce storm overflow spills in 2024. Over the last five years, we’ve cut beach spills in the bathing season by 20 per cent, and we’ve already removed three-quarters of the top 20 highest spilling sites from 2023.

“There’s more to do, and we’re committed to delivering long-term change as we continue investing at record levels to reduce our use of storm overflows.

“We’ll continue working closely with communities and MPs like Mr Law to make the improvements needed now and in the future.”

A spokesperson for South West Water said: “We understand how important this issue is to our customers and communities and we’re already delivering real progress.

“We were one of only five water companies to reduce storm overflow spills in 2024. Over the last five years, we’ve cut beach spills in the bathing season by 20 per cent, and we’ve already removed three-quarters of the top 20 highest spilling sites from 2023.

“There’s more to do, and we’re committed to delivering long-term change as we continue investing at record levels to reduce our use of storm overflows.

“We’ll continue working closely with communities and MPs like Mr Law to make the improvements needed now and in the future.”