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With just more than a week to go until election day, Liberal Democrat mayoral candidate Felicity Cunliffe-Lister has said how shocked she was by sewage dumping figures for the county.

According to Environment Agency data, every constituency in York and North Yorkshire saw the duration of spills more than double in 2023, the highest being in Thirsk and Malton at 141%, and the worst increase in spills being Scarborough and Whitby with a rise of 71%.

Masham county councillor Felicity, whose division includes one of Yorkshire’s worst-affected rivers, said: “As a family we have always swum in the river Ure, believing it to be safe and clean.

"It’s shocking to discover how polluted it has become, to find out how widespread sewage dumping is across the county, and it’s getting worse.”

Masham-based Liberal Democrat mayoral candidate Felicity Cunliffe-Lister says she was shocked by the scale of sewage dumping figures for York and North Yorkshire in 2023. (Picture contributed)

Data from the Environment Agency, compiled by the House of Commons Library for the Liberal Democrats, shows sewage was dumped into York and North Yorkshire’s rivers and coastlines on 20,000 separate occasions over 172,000 hours in 2023.

With sewage dumping rising by 130 per cent in a year, the Conservatives would face “a reckoning at the ballot box”, claimed Felicity Cunliffe-Lister who runs the Swinton Estate.

"Conservative MPs have voted against tough new measures for polluters like Yorkshire Water,” she said.

“My manifesto pledge is to hold Yorkshire Water to account.

"As a party, we are calling for stricter measures, including replacing Ofwat with a tougher regulator, a ban on bonuses for water company bosses if their firms are dumping sewage and the declaration of a national environmental emergency."

The Lib Dem has also pledged to better control flooding in the region, which would also help reduce the sewage spills caused by flooding.

She is committed to natural flood management schemes, starting with the catchment area of the Swale, Ure and Nidd.

Thursday, May 2: Candidates in York and North Yorkshire Mayoral Election

Duncan, Keane Charles – (The Conservative Party)

Cunliffe-Lister, Felicity Clare – (Liberal Democrats)

Skaith, David - (Labour and Co-operative Party)

Foster, Kevin – (The Green Party)

Haslam, Paul - ( Independent)

Tordoff, Keith Graham - (Independent)

Mayor contender calls for 'tough rules' on water pollution after 130% rise in sewage dumping in York and North Yorkshire