PROTECTED wilderness areas in England and Wales were repeatedly flooded with raw sewage last year by profiteering water companies, a damning new report revealed today.

Greenpeace said the two countries’ “most sensitive wilderness areas” suffered sewage pollution for a total of 300,000 hours in 2022, despite being protected by conservation regulations.

The environment campaign group matched water companies’ sewage spill data with maps showing England and Wales’s sites of special scientific interest, special areas of conservation, special protected areas and Ramsar sites to identify every pipe that discharged within 50 metres of a protected nature site.

It found that 515 protected areas had been affected by sewage.

One of the worst-hit was the River Derwent and Bassenthwaite Lake, part of the Lake District, which received more than 6,600 hours of sewage flow.

Chichester and Langstone Harbour, a protected wetland site, had sewage poured in for 3,200 hours.

A university study found over 50 chemicals and E coli bacteria at 760 times the European Union safety levels.

Greenpeace UK political campaigner Megan Corton Scott said: “Beloved lakes, beaches and rivers, rare wildlife habitats, sites of special scientific interest are being sacrificed so water company bosses and shareholders can continue to reap huge profits.”

Noting that “shaming” the profiteers has not worked, she argued: “The only way to force them to clear up their mess is to make all of their dividends and bonuses dependent on actual results.

“Instead of long-term targets and empty threats, ministers should actually force the water companies to do the job we pay them for, starting now.”