The final fine and additional details show that the court ordered South West Water to pay £7,867,733 for sewage pollution across Devon and Cornwall between 2015 and 2021. Judge Jo Matson called the pollution “horrendous” and the company “reckless”, and said such incidents must not happen again.

The company pleaded guilty to 18 charges, including 17 illegal discharge offences. The fine includes £1.1 million for an August 2019 spill at Polperro Harbour, where untreated sewage flowed through a harbour wall and the company took ten hours to attend despite alarms sounding; the court also ordered it to pay £329,993 in costs and a £120 surcharge. Environment Agency findings included 231 discharges at Harlyn beach and more than 336 at sewage works near Bodmin. South West Water apologised for the historic events and said it is investing £760 million to address storm overflows.