LABOUR has called for water bosses to be made criminally liable for polluting Britain’s waterways.

Shadow environment secretary Steve Reed told the Commons today: “The environmental regulator has today condemned the disgusting state of our waterways caused by the Conservatives letting water companies pump them full of raw sewage.

“This has to stop. So will the government now back Labour’s plan and make water bosses personally criminally liable?”

The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) report warned that Britain’s open water will be filthy for decades unless urgent changes are made.

It said the government’s legal targets to improve England’s rivers and seas will be missed by a “considerable margin.”

Investment is falling short by billions of pounds, with “deeply concerning” issues over how laws to protect England’s rivers, lakes and coastal waters are being put into practice.

OEP chairwoman Dame Glenys Stacey said: “We have found that, while the relevant law here is broadly sound, it is simply not being implemented effectively.

“This means it is not delivering as intended and, as a consequence, most of our open water is likely to remain in a poor state in the years ahead unless things change. This is deeply concerning.

“While we know that there are dedicated and professional people working hard to improve the condition of our rivers, as in so many other aspects of the environment, government must now ensure substantial funding for a wider range of specific action, at pace and with ambition.”

Amid high public anger over the state of Britain’s polluted waterways, Environment Secretary Steve Barclay insisted that the government had already taken the “biggest-ever prosecution by the Environment Agency.”

He added: “We’re already taking action to ban bonuses of those companies guilty of serious pollution.”

Earlier, shadow environment minister Daniel Zeichner said farmers were struggling to remain viable under the Conservative government.

He said: “When one looks at the survey this week from the National Farmers Union into farmer confidence, they revealed a staggering 65 per cent of farmers are facing declining profits or their business won’t survive at all.”

Mr Barclay said the current sustainable farming incentive scheme has been the most successful one his department has ever run.