Overview
- Derby Crown Court fined the company £733,333 plus costs and surcharges for unlawful discharges into the Pools Brook stream in 2018 and 2019.
- Yorkshire Water pleaded guilty in January 2024 and later apologised, saying it has invested more than £2.5 million to relocate the two sewers involved.
- Environment Agency investigators linked the incidents to a corroded rising main, a blockage of wet wipes that leaked into a surface‑water pipe, and a failed joint coupling.
- The first spill killed fish and aquatic insects with water‑quality impacts over 600 metres, while later events degraded stretches of 700 metres and 600 metres without recorded fish deaths.
- The Environment Agency cited a strengthened enforcement push, with staffing rising to 195 roles and a target of 10,000 inspections, as ministers advance broader water‑industry reforms.