Anglian Water has been accused of “not taking polluting seriously” after it registered 12 serious incidents in 2025 and was rated “requires improvement” by regulators for the fifth year in a row.

The company, which supplies water and sewerage services across the East of England, parts of the East Midlands and Lincolnshire, admitted it had “more to do”, but said bathing waters in its area were their cleanest in a decade.

Scientists and campaigners said they were still seeing high levels of pollution in the region’s waterways, from the River Great Ouse in Bedfordshire to the River Deben in Suffolk.