Steve Coogan accuses water company of polluting Britain's largest lake

Steve Coogan claims a water company has created a “timebomb” in Britain's largest lake by dumping untreated sewage in its catchment. The comedian has spoken out again over the state of Windermere, after last year describing its pollution as a "national scandal".

Now the Alan Partidge star is supporting Matt Staniek, 28, a zoologist who is staging his 24th week of a "sewage strike" outside a United Utilities information centre at Windermere. “United Utilities are engaged in a sort of PR exercise … but they’re not really doing anything to tackle the problem,” Coogan told The Times newspaper.

Last week the Undertones singer and water campaigne Fergal Sharkey criticised United Utilities for “poisoning” the lake out of “corporate greed”. The comedians Joe Lycett, Lee Mack and Paul Whitehouse, who warned rivers face a “tipping point”, are also supporting the campaign. United Utilities, which has spent £75 million since 2000 on reducing pollution in the Windermere catchment, wants to raise bills by 24.5 per cent by 2030 to pay for new infrastructure. Coogan said that investment should be paid out of profits, not households. “The talk of having to pass the bill on to the customer is untenable and needs to be opposed,” he said.

Storm overflow systems are large pipes integrated into combined sewer networks, which automatically release sewage into rivers or the sea during heavy rainfall, to prevent waste flooding homes. The Save Windermere campaign says high phosphorus levels from this sewage are leading to a rapid increase in potentially toxic algae blooms, which damage the wildlife and ecosystem of the river.

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