Here's where sewage spilled into Northamptonshire rivers and brooks during severe weather

With torrential rain and storms over the last week wreaking havoc on people’s homes and businesses, the county’s rivers and waterways have also took the brunt of untreated waste being pumped into them for days on end.

Under extreme weather conditions, storm overflows are permitted to prevent sewers from becoming overloaded. This releases pressure on the main sewer system and allows floodwater to escape into a river or the sea and not back up into people’s homes.

Anglian Water said it can take several days for the water to filter from the environment and through their network, meaning storm overflows can be ongoing for several days after heavy rainfall.

Spills that have been ongoing for more than 24 hours (at the time of publishing) include:

• Braybrooke- two days
• Broadholme (near Irthingborough)- five days
• Bozeat- five days
• Chelveston-water Lane- five days
• Cransley- three days
• Creaton- five days
• Corby- one day
• Earls Barton- five days
• Easton Maudit- five days
• Geddington- five days
• Great Oxendon- four days
• Grendon- four days
• Hackleton- five days
• Harlestone- three days
• Helmdon – four days
• Holcot- three days
• Hollowell- five days
• Long Buckby- five days
• Silverstone- four days
• Tiffield- two days
• Titchmarsh- four days
• Walgrave- five days
• Welton- one day
• Whilton- one day
• Yardley Hastings – four days

Many other sites have been triggered in the last 24 hours. You can view a map of overflows across the county here.

A spokesperson from Save the Titchmarsh Thrapston And Upper Nene Valley Countryside & Habitats (STAUNCH) said the number and duration of overflows in the county is ‘worrying’.

“The law states that untreated sewage should only be released in exceptional circumstances. Rainfall isn’t exceptional circumstances- especially as the water companies are aware that our summers are becoming increasingly dry and autumn increasingly wet.

“Anglian Water continues to pay shareholders and Executives huge amounts and its investment in the sewage system has been woeful. They have chosen to take the relatively small fines imposed by courts rather than investing.

“The Environment Agency has classified the River Nene quality as bad and in the case of Titchmarsh Brook due to the amount of sewage it is actually now ecologically dead.

“The sewage in the rivers has a huge detrimental impact on wildlife and also human health if you are in contact with it.”

An Anglian Water spokesperson said: “We’ve heard loud and clear from our customers, communities, passionate river groups and our regulators that we need to take action to address storm overflows.

“We agree that storm overflows are no longer the right solution when sewers become overloaded with rainwater, and have a plan to address how we tackle them.

“The next stage of that is a proposal for £1bn of investment into directly tackling storm spills as part of our next business plan, totalling £9bn, which we’re currently discussing with Ofwat.”

There are currently a total of three flood warnings in Northamptonshire in place for properties close to rivers and brook, as well as nine flood alerts. Residents should be aware and ready to act, according to the Environment Agency.