A document released to this newspaper by the Environment Agency under Freedom of Information laws revealed that Yorkshire Water breached its permits 259 times, and received a total of 146 warnings between June 1 2022 and June 21 2024.

Yorkshire Water also breached its permits by discharging sewage materials outside its allocated permits at least 89 times in the period.

Water companies are allowed to discharge materials from combined sewage systems – the systems which contain a mix of waste from toilets and rainwater – during times of heavy rainfall.