South Hams MP Anthony Mangnall has defended himself from accusations he has helped give the go-ahead to water companies to dump raw sewage in rivers.

The MP voted against a proposal from the Lords to the Environment Bill that would have placed legal duties on the companies to reduce discharge last week.

Last Wednesday, 265 MPs voted with the government to reject an attempt by the House of Lords to toughen up the approach to the discharge of sewage, while 22 Conservative MPs rebelled and voted against the government.

With just days to go until the UK hosts the COP26 climate summit, there is intense focus on ministers’ green credentials.

The MPs say safeguards already exist and new measures would cost billions.

Critics say the UK is “lecturing” the world while its rivers are polluted.

There were 403,171 spills of sewage into England’s rivers and seas in 2020, according to the Environment Agency, adding up to more than 3.1m hours of spillages.

Defending his vote, Mr Mangnall said he was “committed” to cleaning South Devon waters but the costs of forcing water companies reduce their sewage discharge would be passed on to consumers.

Mr Mangnall said: “As a Conservative Environment Network member and a keen conservationist who regularly promotes methods such as regenerative agriculture, I would never support a bill that harms our waterways, coastline or rivers. 

 “In relation to overflows and sewage, the recently debated Environment Bill contains provisions placing new duties on water companies to publish real time information on storm overflow usage, to continuously monitor the water quality up and downstream of storm overflows. 

 “The bill also places a legal duty on the Government to publish a plan by next September to reduce sewage discharges from storm overflows.

“This is absolutely essential as it will provide Parliament and the public with up-front, clear and comprehensive information on the cost and impact of eliminating storm overflows.

“Unfortunately, the reality of Lord’s Amendment 45 is that, while simple in objective, the outcomes would have passed on huge costs to consumers.

“While I agree with the ‘polluter pays’ principle, we cannot pass amendments that could place a huge burden on the state and the public without a proper detailed plan or impact assessment in place.

“It is important to note that the vote last week does not signify the end of this bill’s journey. The Bill will be debated further and I expect further amendments to be added to help restore confidence that work is being undertaken.

 “I am very much committed to cleaning our waters, and with a vibrant fishing, aquaculture and farming community in South Devon, I know the positive impact that solving this issue will have.

“I speak regularly to South West Water and I will be arranging an open meeting with them to discuss their network and what steps they are taking to clean our rivers, improve the network and protect our coastline.”