Yorkshire Water pays £2.25m in 'enforcement undertaking' charges to charities over pollution incidents

They require the company to put right the damage caused, and often involve a payment to a wildlife trust or charity, without requiring court proceedings.

This can include habitat restoration, for threatened species like water voles and salmon, and river recovery projects.

In the last financial year, the EA revealed that a record £8.5m was paid, a 47 per cent increase on the previous year.

Of this, some £2.25m in fines was from Yorkshire Water, with the largest one-off payment being £500,000.

These went to charities including the Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust and the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.

It comes after the company paid a £40m enforcement package to Ofwat last year, to address “serious failures” over wastewater and sewage.

A Yorkshire Water spokesperson said: “We take our environmental commitments very seriously and we’re investing £1.5bn over the next five years to improve Yorkshire’s rivers and coastal waters.

“Unfortunately, there are instances where things go wrong and we take responsibility to make it right.”

Water Minister Emma Hardy said: “Water companies must be held to account when they break the law.

“This enforcement action will see millions go directly into projects that clean up our rivers, restore habitats and benefit local communities, delivering immediate benefits without lengthy court cases.

“It comes alongside other government action to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas.

“We’ve already banned unfair bonuses and introduced landmark legislation to hold water companies to account, and our long-term reforms will mean there is a new, single regulator focused on preventing problems before they occur.”

Philip Duffy, the EA’s chief executive, added: “This record level of Enforcement Undertakings payments means more money is being reinvested directly into restoring the environment.

“While we continue to prosecute and sanction the most serious offences, enforcement undertakings allow us to hold companies to account more quickly while ensuring money is channelled directly to where damage has occurred, delivering real benefits for people and wildlife.”

It comes as the EA also announced it had launched 96 criminal investigations into water companies since April last year following evidence of “serious breaches” of environmental rules, such as illegal sewage leaks or poorly maintained treatment facilities

Potential punishments could see water companies forced to take immediate remedial works, or even hit with multimillion-pound fines, the regulator said.

Companies cannot be named until the action has concluded for legal reasons, the Government said.

The Yorkshire Water spokesperson added: “We always cooperate fully with investigations, and sometimes these can lead to us giving enforcement undertakings to the Environment Agency.

“As part of these undertakings, compensation is provided to local charities so improvements can be made to benefit our local environment.

“We have seen compensation from past undertakings deliver real improvements for local initiatives.”

Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds said it was a record-breaking increase in investigations that showed poorly performing water firms had “nowhere to hide”, as part of a crackdown on pollution.

The EA has already announced it carried out 10,000 inspections of water treatment works and facilities in the past year – flagging 3,000 breaches which required action by water companies, including repairing sewage works and upgrading infrastructure.

Ms Reynolds said: “Poor-performing water companies have nowhere to hide under my watch.

“This record-breaking increase in investigations shows we are taking wrongdoing in the sector extremely seriously, with tough enforcement and swift consequences for those who fail customers and the environment.

“We will continue to use every enforcement power available to clamp down on pollution and hold offenders to account.”