LEGAL ACTION against South West Water over sewage pollution has been expanded to include people living in Dawlish and Teignmouth.
The announcement comes as SWW features in the hard-hitting Channel 4 docudrama Dirty Business.
The expansion means the claim has the potential to be as big as the environmental legal claim being run by Leigh Day over pollution in the Wye Catchment.
Currently the Wye claim, against Welsh Water and Avara Foods poultry group, is the biggest ever to be brought in the UK over UK pollution.
The Exmouth expanded claim is the first environmental group legal claim by a coastal community against a water company to tackle sewage pollution in the UK.
It argues SWW’s failings are wide and entrenched in many coastal towns across the Devon and Cornwall region, rather than just the Exmouth area, with a report from water regulator Ofwat identifying ‘systematic failings’ by the water company.
Devon and Cornwall combined have more than 900 miles of coastline, 150 designated bathing water sites, and numerous protected areas.
The region’s sewerage system is managed by SWW, which in 2024 was reported to have discharged 544,429 hours of untreated sewage into the region’s seas and rivers.
The water company was also recorded as the sector’s second worst performer for sewage pollution incidents in 2024.
The expansion is detailed in a letter before action which puts SWW along with its parent company Pennon Group PLC on legal notice of the claim.
Community members represented by law firm Leigh Day call for the water company to be held accountable for sewage pollution, as the company is ranked the lowest performing water company since rankings began in 2011.
Members of the community allege that the pollution has negatively impacted businesses in the area, many of which are reliant on tourism, as well as impacted individuals’ homes and disrupted people pursuing activities such as wild swimming, surfing, paddle boarding, windsurfing, sailing and visiting the beach.
People impacted by sewage pollution in Dawlish, and Teignmouth in SWW’s network may now be eligible to join the legal action.
The claim was launched in 2024 following legal action taken by wild swimmer and Exmouth resident Jo Bateman against SWW.
More than 1,400 clients from the Exmouth, Lympstone and Budleigh Salterton areas, have joined the claim since its launch, with both individuals and businesses objecting to SWW’s management of the region’s sewerage network and particularly its repeated use of Combined Storm Overflows or “CSOs”, which trigger bathing alerts and beach closures, preventing people from using the coast, which is central to public life in the area.
Individual claimants argue sewage discharges have impacted them personally in private and public settings.
For example, someone with disabilities who relies on being able to swim in the sea but has been unable to do so due to pollution, or a person whose home has been affected by repairs to sewerage systems.
Business claimants allege that their livelihoods have been impacted by sewage pollution.
This includes water sports businesses impacted by cancellations due to the pollution, as well as sea-front businesses reliant on tourism which say they have suffered a loss of income and investment.
The claim is being brought on grounds of public and private nuisance, in that discharges as a result of CSOs, burst pipes or other network failures have negatively impacted people’s lives, livelihoods or property.
Untreated sewage is discharged via CSOs which are located across the sewerage network and discharge when sewage treatment works are at capacity. The untreated sewage is then pumped into rivers and coastal areas.
This kind of claim is allowed for by a Supreme Court judgement from 2024 which held that claims against water companies for nuisance caused by sewage discharges in public waterways can now be brought.
Leigh Day partner Oliver Holland, who leads the claim, said: ‘This marks an important step in the claim, with the letter before action setting out in detail the reasons why legal action is being taken, and expanding the scope to cover Devon and Cornwall more widely.
‘South West Water has a track record of very poor environmental performance, and my clients allege this has badly impacted their lives and livelihoods.
‘By outlining my clients’ claims and expanding in this way, we are ensuring anyone who feels they have been impacted by sewage pollution in Dawlish, Sidmouth, Teignmouth, or at Longrock beach or Fistral beach in Cornwall, has the opportunity to take action.’
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