Anglian Water may be scrutinised over sewage after 288 spills into Babergh district's rivers, including Hadleigh's river Brett, last year.

A motion to question Anglian Water about its plans to tackle sewage discharge will be put to Babergh District Council next week.

Sewage flowed into river Stour

The Green Party motion, supported by Independent Conservative council leader Cllr John Ward, comes after The Sewage Trust reported sewage spills from 288 storm overflows in Babergh last year had a combined duration of 1,861 hours.

Storm overflows release extra rainwater and wastewater into rivers or seas when the sewerage system is at risk of being overwhelmed, causing flooding – such as during heavy downpours.

Green Party Cllr Robert Lindsay, whose ward includes Bildeston, will put the motion forward, and said: "In March, water regulator OFWAT highlighted its concerns about how Anglian Water was running its sewage treatment works.

"The issue is, no one is really checking that Anglian Water are cleaning up the sewage from their storm overflows.

"As a council, we have a responsibility to ensure that new housing developments do not cause unacceptable levels of water pollution.

"If our motion is successful, we will be asking Anglian Water to clarify, in its responses to major planning applications, which treatment works will be managing the sewage.

"We will also ask whether it has the information available to assess the impact on the number or duration of sewage discharges into local rivers or seas, and if it does have this information to share it.

"We can only request that Anglian Water does this. In a recent presentation to investors, it stated its commitment to ensuring its sewage treatment works do not harm rivers and to enhancing the region's rivers.

"So, I hope Anglian Water would comply."

Cllr Lindsay will put forward the motion at Babergh District Council meeting next Tuesday.