“While this is a small piece of welcome news for millions of customers who pay their bills every month regardless of the sewage in our rivers and leaking pipes, it will do little to fix the underlying problems. Paying fines seems to be built into the business model of this rogue industry.

“It’s now vital that Ofwat bring in a full ban on shareholder dividends as well as bonuses to divert more money to monitoring and improving our knackered water system. The government should give regulators its full backing and give them the powers and resources to properly police pollution. Only then we may start to see actual improvements to service and the health of our rivers and seas.

“Concerned customers can show the government how much they want their rivers protected from corporate polluters on 3 November at the March for Clean Water in London.”