Anglian Water has been given the joint worst environmental rating in the UK for the third year running. 

The water company received a two star rating from the Environment Agency on Tuesday (July 23). 

The body said the water company requires improvement after hundreds of pollution incidents were recorded in 2023. 

The rating is the joint worst to be awarded and was given following 307 pollution incidents caused by Anglian Water in 2023, 11 of which were considered serious incidents.

The report found that over 90% of the UK's serious pollution incidents were caused by four companies: Anglian Water, Southern Water, Thames Water and Yorkshire Water.

The two-star rating, which each of these companies holds and Anglian Water was also awarded in 2021 and 2022, means improvement is required to resolve ongoing issues and hazards. 

Sadia Moeed, area director for Environment Agency in East Anglia, said: "We are disappointed that Anglian Water is a two-star company for the third year in a row. 

"Where there is evidence of non-compliance we will not hesitate to pursue the water company and take appropriate action.

“As part of our national investment in water company regulation, we will increase our regulatory presence across Anglian Water’s sites, contributing to the 4,000 inspections across the country this year, increasing to 10,000 next year."

Environment Agency Chair, Alan Lovell, said:  “For the nation to have cleaner rivers and seas, water companies must take responsibility to understand the root cause of their problems.

“It is promising to see some companies starting to accept their responsibilities, but it is evident that the pace of improvement continues to fall short. 

“We frequently tighten standards to drive better performance and we have been clear that we expect all companies to achieve, and most critically sustain, better environmental performance. 

He added: “As part of this we are taking forward our biggest ever transformation in the way we regulate, recruiting up to 500 additional staff, increasing compliance checks and quadrupling the number of water company inspections by March next year. 

"Through additional resources, tightened EPA metrics and new legal powers, we will be playing our part to ensure the industry steps up on the environment.”

An Anglian Water spokesperson said: “We take our responsibility to protect, restore and improve our region’s environment incredibly seriously.

"We know that we must do better on some critical measures of environmental performance, and that our customers want to see a demonstrable difference in the action we take to tackle storm spills and reduce pollutions.

“We’ve drastically changed how we operate to address more effectively the unique and complex challenges facing our region, but we knew it was going to take time for this to be reflected in our environmental performance and an improved EPA rating.

"We are seeing positive changes in many areas of work, and the recent £100m of additional funding from our shareholders means that we can continue with this strategy at pace.”