Environment Agency slashes number of water pollution incident visits

Huge drop in number of visits during Covid crisis raises concerns polluters are breaking laws with impunity

The Environment Agency has dramatically reduced the frequency that it attends water pollution incidents amid the Covid-19 pandemic, raising concerns the crisis is allowing companies to break environmental regulations with impunity.

Between the start of April and the end of August the Environment Agency attended just 292 water pollution incidents, down from 1,726 during the same period in 2019, according to data obtained by the Guardian using freedom of information legislation.