Ignore reports of low-impact pollution events, Environment Agency tells staff

Exclusive: river groups appalled by strategy set out in briefing that says agency has capacity to deal with only most severe cases

England's Environment Agency has told its staff to shut down" and ignore reports of low-impact pollution events because it does not have enough money to investigate them, according to a leaked internal report.

The ruling on so-called category 3 and 4 incidents means that events such as farm pollution or hazardous dumps by business may not be properly investigated. The decision has infuriated river groups and NGOs.