GREEN Councillors have slammed an apology from Yorkshire Water’s boss over sewage discharge as “way too little and far too late”.

The party, which has eight councillors in Bradford, said the work being carried out by the organisation to reduce the amount of sewage being pumped into local waters would ultimately be paid for by local households.

Earlier this month, Nicola Shaw, Yorkshire Water’s CEO, said in a letter to customers there had been “a huge amount of criticism, of and anger at, the water industry over recent months”.

She added: “I get why people are angry – seeing sewage in our rivers and seas isn’t right.

“We should have a system that befits the 21st Century. So, on behalf of Yorkshire Water, I am sorry. We should have acted more quickly to change the situation.”

The apology also included details of investment to modernise the sewer network - but Greens claimed this would be paid for by households through higher bills.

Councillor Celia Hickson (Tong), deputy leader of the Green Party Group on Bradford Council, said the apology was “way too little and far too late”.

“And what’s worse, it is actually hiding the real announcement that households across Yorkshire are going to foot the huge bill for fixing the mess Yorkshire Water have got us into,” she added.

“For decades, Yorkshire Water has failed to properly invest in our infrastructure whilst funnelling their profits to their shareholders - which are mainly made up of international banks.

“Households across the country are struggling with rising bills and now they are going to be hit by rising water bills.”

She said it would be families across Yorkshire “who will be paying to clean up our rivers”.

A Yorkshire Water spokesperson said: “Our shareholders have funded the majority of our £180m plans for storm overflow improvements in the next two years.

“They are supportive of our environmental commitments and this latest funding announcement takes our total investment in river water quality between 2020-2025 to almost £1bn.

“The additional national investment of £10bn announced by Water UK will be paid by shareholders up front, with the costs then paid back in tiny increments each year through bills. We won’t know the precise impact on bills for some time.

“It is clear that huge investment is needed, but precise levels are for the regulator to determine.

“We’ll submit our investment plans to Ofwat later this year and we’ll need to await their decision before we can understand the impact on bills.

“We know how tough things are for many people at the moment, so whatever the bill impact, we’ll continue to support more households with paying their bill than ever before – over 90,000 customers in Yorkshire are already receiving support for their bills.”

A  spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “The volume of sewage being discharged into our waters is unacceptable.

“Our Plan for Water sets out increased investment, tougher enforcement and tighter regulation to tackle every source of river and sea pollution. We also recently consulted on giving regulators more powers to impose unlimited penalties to ensure polluters pay.

“After Water UK’s recent apology, we want to see action and a clear plan for delivery from water companies. We will be working closely with them to ensure this happens without impacting customers’ bills.”