SENTENCING for South West Water over a series of pollution offences across Devon and Cornwall has been delayed until late September.

The water company had been due to be sentenced at Plymouth Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, August 5, following an earlier adjournment from July 30. However, the court heard that sentencing will now take place in late September, on a date yet to be confirmed.

South West Water has previously admitted 18 criminal charges brought by the Environment Agency. Seventeen relate to illegal sewage discharges, while one concerns failing to take reasonable remedial measures following a failure at a sewage pumping station.

The offences occurred between January 2015 and July 2021 at five locations: Bodmin, Harlyn, Playing Place, Polperro and Plymouth.

Among the most serious incidents were 336 illegal sewage spills from the company’s treatment works near Bodmin over a seven-year period to March 2020. The discharges entered the River Camel, a protected Special Area of Conservation and an important habitat for Atlantic salmon, bullhead and otters.

The company also admitted that untreated sewage was discharged onto Harlyn Beach on 231 occasions between January 2016 and July 2021. At Hooe Lake near Plymouth, a pumping station failure in August 2020 resulted in sewage being discharged continuously for 88 hours over the Bank Holiday weekend.

The Environment Agency said three of the admitted offences occurred during an August Bank Holiday, while the affected sites included environmentally protected habitats and popular recreational areas.

Separate criminal charges relating to spills at Holywell Sewage Pumping Station have also been admitted by South West Water but will be considered by the court at a later date.

The company was previously prosecuted by the Environment Agency in 2023, when it was fined £2.15 million after admitting 13 pollution offences committed between July 2016 and August 2020.