PM must take action on Yorkshire Water, MP says, as he says constituents are "livid"

Pressure is mounting on the Prime Minister to take action against Yorkshire Water after an MP warned that his constituents are “absolutely livid” at pollution levels in the region.

The beleaguered water board has come under intense scrutiny in recent months after being downgraded to one star by the regulation watchdog Ofwat.

Some 260 sewage pollution incidents were recorded in 2025-2026, with bills soaring by 30 per cent.

In one of his first acts since taking the keys to Number 10, Andy Burnham made clear that Thames Water was being put on watch, with the water board creditors saying they are looking at offering a “golden share” to the Government as part of a revised rescue deal to stave off nationalisation.

The MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough said he has heard from constituents this summer who have ended up in hospital after ingesting water from the River Nidd.

Speaking to the Yorkshire Post, Mr Gordon said: “Andy Burnham has set a precedent by taking action on Thames Water, but fundamentally we’re not going to see a fix unless we get drastic changes.

“Companies are just getting away with it completely.

“My constituents are absolutely livid. We’ve seen in the hot weather, children going in the river and being sick. I’ve heard people say that their kids have ended up really quite poorly, in the most severe circumstances ending up at A&E.

“Knaresborough and its economy are hugely based around tourism. I had friends up here last week and we went out on the boats, and you don’t want to worry about a splash of water meaning you end up in hospital.”

New analysis of data from Mr Gordon’s team revealed the scale of environmental damage in Harrogate and Knaresborough where Yorkshire Water dumped sewage into local waterways for 3910 hours last year across 1069 separate spills.

Mr Gordon is calling on the Government to Put water companies into special administration immediately, permanently restructuring the company as a mutual run for the benefit of its customers and transition all existing water companies into public-benefit mutuals.

He said: “Yorkshire Water are now seeing a high level of investment in infrastructure that should stop spill events.

“But that’s on the back of hiking up bills for customers and taking on more debt.

“They’re paying vast amounts of sums for themselves in their salaries and what they call retention payments, which definitely aren’t a way to circumvent the bonus ban, and then at the same time seeing huge astronomical levels of debt being taken off.”

A Government spokesperson said: “After years of failure, we have taken swift action to hold water companies to account. We are ending the era of water company self-monitoring, introducing new MOT-style checks on company assets and bringing in ‘no notice’ inspections to help clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good.

“We have also banned unfair water boss bonuses and will establish a new, single regulator with greater powers to drive transparency, helping to rebuild customer trust and protect the environment.

“The government will always act in the national interest on these issues.”

COMMENT SOUGHT FROM YORKSHIRE WATER AND DEFRA