South West Water allowed to invest £24m rather than pay £19m fine

Campaigners say Ofwat subservient to industry and its rampaging pursuit of profit' after illegal sewage discharges

South West Water has agreed to pay a 24m penalty for illegal sewage discharges into the environment from its treatment works.

The regulator for the water and wastewater sector in England and Wales, Ofwat, says the company, which has 1.8 million customers in Cornwall, Devon, the Isles of Scilly and parts of Dorset and Somerset, is being penalised for dumping sewage in breach of its legal permit conditions.