Sewage spilled into England's waterways for a record number of hours last year, the Environmental Agency says.

Water companies released raw sewage into England’s rivers and seas for a record 3.61 million hours last year, a slight increase on 2023.

The data released by Environment Agency on Thursday showed that although the number of spills was down each spill lasted longer on average - resulting in a higher total number of hours.

Some spilling can be legal, but concern has been mounting amongst scientists about the harm that regular sewage spilling is causing the country’s aquatic life.