Campaigners, MPs and members of the public gathered together in Leeds for a special screening of Channel 4’s ‘Dirty Business’ followed by a live Q&A with the central whistleblower, Rob Forrester, as well as Mark Barrow, whose specialised underwater photography featured in the programme.
Kirsty Tucker, lead for Plastic Free North West Leeds (Surfers Against Sewage) and organiser of today’s event, has spent the past seven years campaigning to reduce the pollution in Yorkshire rivers, especially the River Aire. The Aire has been ranked the 5th most polluted river in the UK, with 3,112 sewage discharges recorded in 2025 alone- lasting a total of 17,636 hours.
Tucker commented, ‘The River Aire is effectively being treated like an open sewer. Thousands of hours of raw sewage entering our waterways is unacceptable and communities across Leeds and Bradford are demanding urgent action. We ask that they examine public ownership, they actually enforce the law and finally give the public a say on the future of how water companies operate.’
She added, ‘Our Group Plastic Free North West Leeds recently joined forces with many other clean river campaigners under The Sewage Campaign Network. I was part of the mass lobby event at Westminster on 17th March where we received support from 117 MPs to nationalise water.’
Pollution of Yorkshire’s waters continues
Despite the media attention and campaigning on cleaner standards and water companies being more accountable, pollution continues unabated.
Rob Forrester revealed today that over the past decade, almost 800 pollution incidents have taken place in the River Wharfe catchment, another Yorkshire river, with 4 of these being recorded as Category 1- the most serious, having a major impact on the water environment. 13 incidents were recorded as Category 2- a significant impact on the water environment.
269 incidents were recorded at Category 3- a minor impact and 63 at Category 4.
These numbers, however, only tell half the story.
Forrester revealed that from 2017-2026, a total of 160 water pollution incidents in the River Wharfe catchment could be recorded as Yorkshire Water named as the source- with three Category 2 (significant impact) events. He then informed the attendees that there were 20 water pollution incidents attended to in the River Wharfe catchment where Yorkshire Water was named.
A lack of enforcement and sanction
In summary then, Forrester’s Freedom of Information requests indicate that in the last decade there were 790 total pollution incidents recorded in the River Wharfe catchment. Of these 160 incidents were associated with Yorkshire Water. Only 20 were attended by the Environment Agency, concluding that the overall attendance rate from the Environment Agency was 13%.
From 160 water pollution events associated with Yorkshire Water, only 1 event resulted in a fine of a charity payment of £200,000.
In the fiscal year ending 31 March, 2025, Yorkshire Water’s parent company reported a pre-tax profit of £113.8 million alongside an operating profit of £464.2 million.
72% increase in pollution events
Yorkshire Water now faces being downgraded to a one star rating by the Environment Agency after a series of failures, such as rising pollution, missed environmental projects and declining customer satisfaction. Their financial report highlighted the 72% increase in reportable events and described this performance as one in which they were ‘extremely unhappy.’
‘We recorded 49.75 total pollution incidents per 10,000km of sewer length (260 incidents in total), which is a 72% increase in reportable pollution events compared to 2024, a performance we are extremely unhappy with.’
Guest speaker and underwater photographer, Mark Barrow, told me, ‘In 2026, things are no better as I’m still filming areas where there is more sewage litter than fish. As for the future, I have no faith in any party. I keep hearing the usual spiel of cleaning up the rivers but with very little action. Actions speak louder than words, but honestly, I won’t hold my breath, but I do hope I am proved wrong.
My ultimate goal is for rivers to be restored back to how nature intended them so that they not only thrive but flourish. Even now, so many are unaware of the life that lives within these watery wildlife corridors.’
Climate Thoughts with Brian 