To ask Her Majesty's Government when in the last 12 months there have been accidental sewage spillages into the River Thames from the Little Marlow sewage treatment works.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the total volume of sewage pumped into the River Thames from the Little Marlow sewage treatment works between 19 April and 27 April.

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether sewage pumped into the River Thames from the Little Marlow sewage treatment works between 19 April and 27 April included human excrement; and what action was taken for the removal of any such material from the river.

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will prosecute Thames Water over its actions in pumping sewage into the River Thames between 19 April and 27 April.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what action the Environment Agency has taken to establish when Thames Water officials were first informed of the pumping of sewage into the River Thames between 19 April and 27 April.

To ask Her Majesty's Government when Thames Water officials first informed the Environment Agency of the pumping of sewage into the River Thames from the Little Marlow sewage treatment works between 19 April and 27 April; and what requirement they place upon sewage treatment operations to inform local organisations, marina operators and media organisations regarding the pumping of sewage into the River Thames.

During the period 19-27 April, parts of the treatment process at Little Marlow sewage treatment works failed and sewage was discharged directly into the River Thames. This had passed through the storm tanks so some of the solid excrement had settled out before it was discharged. The Environment Agency asked Thames Water to remove foam and other visible debris from the river.

The Environment Agency met senior managers from Thames Water on 25 April to discuss the incidents at the sewage treatment works. Thames Water produced a process recovery action plan that includes using tankers to suck sewage foam and debris from the river, litter picking to clear up debris from trees and banks and removing debris caught on the outfall grills. All this work is ongoing as part of the recovery plan.

The River Thames is not designated bathing water so there is no requirement on sewerage operators to inform anyone, other than the Environment Agency, of when they are discharging storm sewage outside of the environmental permit conditions that apply to discharges from the works.

As part of its current investigation into the recent incident, the Environment Agency is seeking information on the recent volumes discharged, when Thames Water officials were first informed of the incident and the number of illegal storm sewage discharges from the sewage treatment works in the past 12 months. It is not appropriate to comment any further at this stage as this could compromise the investigation and any enforcement response.