Raw sewage is being routinely released into rivers in the West of England.

Sewage was released 9,489 times lasting 48,323 hours over the last year according to figures from the Rivers Trust.

Not a single U.K. river is in an officially healthy condition, with none meeting good chemical standards and only 14% meeting good ecological standards. Sadly the UK is also ranked bottom of the league for bathing water quality.

There was outrage in Parliament when many Conservative MPs including Jack Lopresti, Jacob Rees Mogg, Luke Hall and Chris Skidmore voted against banning the release of raw sewage. After a U-turn ahead of a House of Lords vote, and a promise of a legal duty” to “secure a progressive reduction in the adverse impacts of sewage discharges” from storm overflows, all eyes are on if the government will set a time frame to end sewage dumping completely.

Metro Mayor Dan Norris said: “Local people are rightly proud of our local rivers - so of course they want them to be free from raw sewage. People feel sickened that human effluent is still routinely discharged into our seas and rivers. It not only makes river waters unsafe to swim in for local people, but it also damages the precious river habitats for marine life, birds and mammals.”