Northumbrian Water and Severn Trent Water have been fined nearly £40,000 in total over pollution incidents.

Severn Trent Water pleaded guilty at Telford Magistrates’ Court to pollution the Pudding Brook in Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire with untreated sewage. It was fined £7,500 and ordered to pay £2,232.60 in costs along with a £15 victim surcharge.

The charges were brought by the Environment Agency after it received a report from a local resident in September 2012.

Northumbrian Water was fined a total of £30,000 for two separate offences of “discharging polluted matter into watercourses”, the Environment Agency said.

The first incident affected Kyo Burn, the source of the River Team, situated to the south west of Stanley while the second affected Bowburn Beck, which flows into the River Wear south of Durham City.

Graham Siddle, Environment Management Team Leader at the Environment Agency said: “In both of these incidents, the sewage had a detrimental effect on the natural environment. That’s why it is vital that water companies and other industries ensure they work within the rules and meet all conditions of their environmental permits.”