Surfers Against Sewage were among the groups that protested outside the AGM of South West Water’s parent company Pennon Group PLC last week.

They were joined by campaigners from Extinction Rebellion, Friends of the River Exe, Greenpeace, wild swimmers, kayakers and citizen scientists at the Marriott Hotel at Sandy Park to highlight the multitude of failures by South West Water to keep our rivers and waterways safe whilst shamefully paying increased dividends to shareholders.

Alison Campbell from Extinction Rebellion said: “This action is a result of the growing public outrage at South West Water’s poor record of sewage overflows and under investment. On average, last year there were over 100 sewage overflows from their network to our beaches and rivers every single day. South West Water puts profits before people and planet. This has to stop.”

Marcus Kern from Surfers against sewage added: “Clean water is a basic human right; protecting our waterways and seas is vital. In what world does poisoning the planet while paying out dividends to greedy corporations achieve this? 

“As we protested outside, Pennon shareholders voted to help themselves to a whopping £112 million dividend, an increase of 11 per cent over last year, while their water infrastructure fails to protect us from jaw dropping sewage pollution.”

A Pennon Group spokesperson said: “We were pleased to see our customers at the annual general meeting. The views of all our customers matter hugely to us and we fully respect the rights of those who wish to protest peacefully. 

“We are listening and there is more to do. We are investing more than ever, delivering improvements in our environmental performance, and protecting our region’s beautiful seas and rivers.”