Nearly two hundred thousand litres of raw sewage was spilled in one day into a lake flowing into Windermere, according to campaigners who claim the discharge was illegal.

The details of the sewage dumping come as new legal rules take effect, requiring water firms to be more transparent about their efforts to stop pollution.

Campaigners are calling for regulators to urgently investigate whether water company United Utilities has been illegally spilling sewage into one of the UK’s most protected sites.

Before the election, during the election and after the election, the government promised us a complete root-and-branch review, a wide-ranging re-examination and a complete reset for the water industry. We were promised champagne but today we’ve been offered sour milk.

Ministers have been accused of misleading the public over claims that it has secured £100 billion in private investment for the water industry over the next five years.

Swimmers have been told to avoid part of a popular lake after harmful blue-green algae was found in the water. The blooms, which can make people ill if swallowed, were discovered at the Lakeside YMCA bathing area in Windermere, in the Lake District. Environmental campaigners said they believed it had been caused by a combination of pollution flowing into the lake and the warmer weather.

Water quality monitors near England's largest lake which were deemed ineffective by campaigners have now been moved.

The Environment Agency (EA) installed the monitors at Cunsey Beck, which feeds into Windermere in the Lake District, after a fish kill in June 2022 in which "100% of life" within the river was suspected to have died.

Sewage was illegally poured into the Lake District's famous Lake Windermere for a record number of days last year, campaigners say, citing new analysis.

Windermere recently suffered the worst year since 2020 for illegal sewage spills, according to analysis of water company data by campaign groups. A joint investigation by Save Windermere and Windrush Against Sewage Pollution used data from United Utilities to determine when the company was releasing sewage into Windermere and when it should have, by law, been treating it.

Sewage spilled illegally into England's largest lake on a record number of days last year, an analysis of water company data by campaigners suggests.

Sewage dumping in Windermere must end, says activist as ministers urged to do more after United Utilities discharged raw sewage into Unesco site for 6,327 hours last year.

Water companies released raw sewage into England's rivers and seas for a record 3.61 million hours last year, a slight increase on 2023.

Labour’s environment secretary Steve Reed has set out the government’s ambition to make England’s biggest lake free from sewage pollution. It’s a notable milestone but the fight goes on, writes Save Windermere’s Matt Staniek.