Two mothers whose young children fell ill after visits to Lake Windermere are appealing directly to Prime Minister Andy Burnham to force water companies to stop discharging sewage into rivers and lakes. Three-year-old Iris Vanderstock contracted a campylobacter infection after paddling at Bowness-on-Windermere, while eight-year-old Rex Earley suffered temporary kidney damage and needed treatment at two hospitals after an E.coli infection picked up while kayaking. The families' pleas add to mounting pressure on the government, with nearly 350,000 people having signed a petition demanding action to end sewage pollution, and come as families continue visiting the lake during the summer holidays despite warnings over water quality.

Burnham has said he is "angry" that households have paid more for years while pollution incidents remain at record levels and pipes continue leaking. United Utilities, the local water company, says the picture is complicated by over 2,000 private septic tanks, agricultural run-off and wild bird droppings, and insists storm drains were not discharging into the lake for more than a month before Iris fell ill and for three weeks before Rex's illness. Iris's mother, Samantha Southwell, has called for tougher regulation, arguing "profit shouldn't be more important than the welfare of the public," while campaign group Save Windermere has invited Burnham to visit the lake and meet affected families.