SOUTH West Water has pleaded guilty to a catalogue of pollution-related charges spanning six years across Devon and Cornwall.

The prosecution, brought by the Environment Agency, concluded at Plymouth Magistrates Court on Thursday. Sentencing is expected on June 4, 2026.

Seventeen of the charges are for illegal discharge activities including sewage discharges and one is for failing to take reasonable remedial measures following failure at a sewage pumping station.

The offences took place between January 2015 and July 2021 in five locations: Bodmin, Harlyn, Playing Place, Polperro and Plymouth. Three of the offences that took place occurred across an August Bank Holiday weekend.

There were 336 illegal spills in the seven years to March 2020 at South West Water’s sewage works near Bodmin. Sewage discharged into the River Camel, which is a special area of conservation, and is a key habitat for Atlantic salmon, bullhead and otters.

Untreated sewage was discharged on to Harlyn beach, a location popular with locals and tourists, on 231 occasions between January 2016 and July 2021.

An incident at Hooe Lake Sewage Pumping station near Plymouth in 2020 led to a sewage discharge which started on the 28 August and continued for 88 hours until September 1. Hooe Lake is a priority habitat, designated for its mudflats, open waters and plant species, and is also used for watersports.

There were also several criminal charges relating to spills at Holywell Sewage Pumping Station before the court.

South West Water previously pleaded guilty to six charges, these will be considered at a later date to be determined.

Clarissa Newell, Environment Agency environment manager for Devon and Cornwall, said: “Getting to this point and securing these guilty pleas was only possible thanks to years of thorough investigation and hard work by Environment Agency officers. They are committed to protecting Devon and Cornwall’s greatest assets – the beaches, waters and associated habitats.

“Polluters must pay and the Environment Agency continues to do everything in its power to ensure that they do.”

South West Water says there was no evidence of any environmental harm and the Environment Agency have not produced any evidence in respect of this.

A spokesperson for SWW said: “These proceedings concern historic matters between 2015 and 2021 and the majority of the charges concerned the use of overflows in storm conditions.

“Since 2021 we have invested significantly to reduce spills across the network. We recently announced that more than 8,300 spills have been prevented due to our investment and operational improvements. We have reduced storm overflow use over the last year by 17 per cent and cut spill duration by 25 per cent despite the South West experiencing a substantially wetter year than the rest of England.

“Significant improvements have been made across the sites concerned including a new treatment process at Scarletts Well in Bodmin, upgrades at Harlyn and Holywell pumping stations and the replacement of pumps at Halvarras pumping station, and work in the catchment to remove surface water and illegal connections into the network.

“We apologise for what happened in the past, and we remain focused on the future as we deliver record levels of investment to achieve cleaner rivers and seas across the South West.”

South West Water was previously prosecuted in 2023 for 13 charges between July 2016 and August 2020, and was fined £2.15-million.