DEBT-RIDDEN Thames Water has been hit with a multi-million pound fine for polluting rivers.
The company was today charged £3.3 million after millions of litres of undiluted sewage was allowed to flow into two rivers in October 2017.
The spillage killed more than 1,400 fish.
A two-day sentencing hearing at Lewes Crown Court was told there was a "significant and lengthy" period of polluting the Gatwick Stream and River Mole between Crawley in West Sussex and Horley in Surrey.
Judge Christine Laing KC said she thought Thames Water showed a "deliberate attempt" to mislead the Environment Agency over the incident.
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It comes as the company faces concerns over its future as it continues to pile on debt.
Whitehall officials have begun drawing up plans to potentially nationalise the company due to its poor finances.
The record fine against a water company illegally spilling sewage is held by Southern Water.
It was charged £90 million for nearly 7,000 incidents across Hampshire, Kent and Sussex in 2021.
Responding to the news, Shadow Environment Secretary Jim McMahon said: “This is a significant fine for Thames Water which highlights the seriousness of the offence.
"But it shouldn’t have taken 5 years to get to this point, which is why Labour’s plan for water would deliver automatic fines for sewage discharges.
“Working people have a right to a quality of life and the places where they live, work and holiday to be treated with respect and not as open sewers by the Tories."