A Severn Trent spokesperson said “The allegations made by Panorama are completely inaccurate, misleading, and misrepresentative of how we operate as a UK listed and highly regulated business.  As we have repeatedly informed Panorama we welcome scrutiny and debate, but this must be based on facts and evidence rather than unsubstantiated opinion and false claims.  

“Severn Trent operates under the full scrutiny of its regulators and the extremely high financial standards demanded of every FTSE listed company, ensuring we run our business in a transparent and financially responsible way.  We are consistently held up as sector leaders, being repeatedly recognised at the highest level for our environmental performance over the last five years, rightfully determined under an increasingly tough framework by the Environment Agency. 

“Severn Trent will continue to invest record amounts into the infrastructure that serves our customers. We are progressing faster than any other water company to reduce the number of spills from storm overflows well ahead of regulatory targets.  We know that this is the number one issue for our customers and we won’t stop our work until we’re operating at global best practice.”