Figures obtained by The Yorkshire Post showing that Yorkshire Water committed more than 200 Environment Agency permit breaches over the past two years are a shameful indictment of a company that has let the region down, of a toothless regulatory regime and of political failure.

Yorkshire Water does not deserve to carry this proud county’s name. Yorkshire is a region that is proud of its natural environment. For a company bearing its name to trash that very environment is unforgivable.

Water companies have only got excuses and promises of further investment to offer communities that they are causing damage to.

It is telling that Yorkshire Water was issued with a warning from the Environment Agency for what the agency listed as a “discharge of sewage into a riverine Site of Special Scientific Interest” at Stamford Bridge, near York.

Stamford Bridge was named as an area in which Yorkshire Water discharged sewage into a site of special scientific interest. PIC: Simon Hulme

So is the fact that Environment Agency tests found E.coli at ten times higher than sufficient levels at the Lido in Knaresborough.

This is not just a water crisis but could potentially become a major public health crisis.

These figures highlight how water regulation is toothless in this country in the face of what is a brazen disregard for the environment.

With proposed fines from Ofwat against Yorkshire Water, Thames Water and Northumbrian Water coming “too late in the day” in the words of Charles Watson, chairman of the campaign group River Action.

As he says Ofwat is a “systematically failed institution”.

There can never be enough praise for water campaigners. Many give up their own time to help monitor the quality of the waters. But the task of keeping tabs on water quality should not be left to them.

Yorkshire Water no longer deserves to carry the region’s name as figures show more than 200 breaches

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