South West Water has been fined nearly £8 million by Plymouth Magistrates' Court for a series of 'horrendous' sewage spills occurring between 2015 and 2021. The judge described the water firm as 'reckless' after raw sewage repeatedly contaminated popular bathing spots and waterways across Devon and Cornwall, including Harlyn Bay, where David Cameron was photographed holidaying. The fine, the largest South West Water has received, reflects the severity of the pollution and the firm's guilty plea to 18 charges, with 17 relating to illegal water discharge activities.

The Environment Agency's investigation uncovered hundreds of pollution incidents, including 231 illegal spills at Harlyn Beach between January 2016 and July 2021, and 336 spills at sewage works near Bodmin. A single incident at Polperro Harbour in August 2019 accounted for £1.1 million of the fine, when untreated sewage gushed through the harbour wall on a bank holiday weekend—a breach that took the company ten hours to address despite active alarms. The ruling arrives amid broader political criticism of the privatised water industry, with Environment Secretary Angela Eagle emphasising the fine sends a 'clear message', whilst Andy Burnham recently described the water sector as emblematic of Britain's systemic failures.