Severn Trent invests more than £640m to improve Staffordshire rivers

The water company said it will make the investment over a 25-year period up to 2050 as part of its plans to reduce spills from storm overflows in the county.

A total of 339 storm overflows will undergo improvements, ranging from increasing the capacity of its storage tanks to introducing eco-friendly solutions.

The company has also pledged to monitor Staffordshire's rivers "closer than ever" to help protect them from harm.

The investment aims to reduce the number of spills into water courses across the county in the hope that by 2040, no overflow will spill more than 10 times in an average year in high priority areas and in all areas by 2045.

It comes as part of a wider £4.4 billion investment into 2,4000 storm overflows across the Severn Trent region.

Bob Stear, chief engineer at the water company, said: "This is a huge investment for Staffordshire which will bring major benefits to the rivers and the wider community over the coming years.

"This announcement marks another significant milestone in our drive to deliver real improvements in river health.

"We are committed to doing all we can to ensure that by 2030 our storm overflow operations will cause no harm to rivers."

Last year, Severn Trent launched Get River Positive, an initiative focused on improving the health of rivers.

Mr Stear added: "Our efforts have been recognised by the Environment Agency, which, we are confident in retaining its highest four-star rating for our environmental performance for a sector-leading fifth year running.

“This is despite the region having experienced 10 named storms since September, contributing to the last six months of 2023 being the third wettest for England on record.

"But we know there is still more to do, which is why this investment is so important – not just to us, but to our region’s rivers and the communities they serve."