A few years ago the sentencing rules changed and water companies in particular have been paying out much larger sums in fines – often in excess of a millions pound. In another twist of the legal system there have been a wave of payments made to charities through a mechanism know as civil sanctions.

Anglian Water has agreed to make a donation to an environmental charity after a blocked sewer caused a watercourse to become polluted in Bedfordshire. The company will pay £50,000 to the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire after a manhole overflowed with black sludge and grey liquid into the watercourse at Highfield Farm near Ravensden.

The Environment Agency said the incident, which caused raised ammonia levels in the watercourse, was classified as a category 2 by the organisation. The blockage was traced to the Yarlswood Immigration Centre and involved single-use shampoo sachets which the facility provided for residents. There had been six blockages on the same stretch of sewer since 2011 when it was transferred to Anglian Water, however it was not added to the company’s mapping system until after the incident in June 2015.

The £50,000 donation will benefit the local environment of Nene Valley and Ouse Valley Living Landscape areas. Anglian Water has also paid back £3,451 in costs. Click here to read more.