Thames Water will face its “biggest ever fine” after pumping millions of gallons of untreated sewage into the River Thames, a judge has warned.

The company admitted water pollution and other offences at sewage facilities in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. Fish and birds died following the spills in 2013 and 2014.One fisherman lost thousands and went out of business because the pollution killed his crayfish, Aylesbury Crown Court heard.

Aylesbury Crown Court heard that the spills resulted in hundreds of dead fish, fewer dragon flies, overflowing manholes and sewage spilling into nature reserves. Environmental damage was caused in the riverside towns of Henley and Marlow. There were also reports of nappies and other sewage debris spilling into the Thames.

The four Thames Water Utilities Ltd sewage treatment works where the spills occurred were Aylesbury, Didcot, Henley and Little Marlow. Between 8 and 32 megalitres per day of untreated sewage flowing into the river each day in Little Marlow and one and a half billion litres released at the company’s Aylesbury site into the river, roughly equating to 200 Olympic sized swimming pools or two supertankers.

The other site is a large sewage pumping system in Littlemore in Oxford. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-38867120

According to the Oxford Times, the water company, which has admitted a number of charges of unlawful discharge and breaching ammonia levels, has told a court it has tried to address its failings.