A second town council has passed a vote of no confidence in Thames Water.

Witney Town Council unanimously passed a motion calling on the government to place full regulatory and administrative limits on Thames Water, suspend bonuses, bring criminal charges against individuals, and evaluate the pros and cons of renationalisation.

Henley Town Council also passed a motion of no confidence in Thames Water and called for its renationalisation earlier in June.

Campaigners filmed raw sewage flowing from Witney sewage treatment works (Image: WASP)

Deputy mayor of Witney Andy Bailey said: "This cry for help follows years of work fighting to improve the water quality in the Windrush.

"Despite this, the situation has only gotten worse. Every person in Witney is now suffering from the weight of environmental neglect by Thames Water."

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Leader of Witney Town Council Ruth Smith added: "Witney is at the heart of the sewage crisis in England.

"It has been the subject of a parliamentary inquiry and featured on BBC’s Panorama.

"Last year sewage was discharged into the Windrush for 22,923 hours – a total more of more than 2.6 years.

"We are now seeing a rise in illnesses among river users."

The council said the "more than £17 million" upgrade pledged for Witney is "under-ambitious".

"This was £8.5 million in January 2023, but the scope, unlike the cost, has not increased much - 60 to 66 per cent increase in capacity."

Mr Bailey said Thames Water's targets of 50 per cent reduction in discharge by 2030, and compliance with the government's 2050 expectations by 2040-45 was way too slow.

He said: "As a new dad, my son will be 21 before he is able to swim in the Windrush and Thames safely.

"He has lost a childhood where he could enjoy our local rivers.”

And the council said Thames Water's "request for an increase in consumer bills of 44 per cent over the next five years... is extortion".

Dr Smith said: "Witney's sewage treatment plant has been polluting Colwell Brook and the Country Park for years.

Leader of Witney Town Council Ruth Smith (Image: Witney Town Council)

"Thames Water has moved from denial to excuses and now threatens huge hikes in bills when the company has had customers' money all along.

"They give us no reason to have confidence in them.

"The motion for no confidence is the council raising the red flag. We hope that other town councils will join us and Henley in tabling similar motions and encourage councillors to reach out to us."

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A Thames Water spokesperson said: "While all discharges are unacceptable, the sewage system was historically designed to work in this way, to prevent sewage backing up into people’s homes.

"We know how much rivers are loved and enjoyed by everyone, and we are committed to seeing our waterways thrive, but we can’t do it alone.

"Farming, industry, livestock and more extreme weather also play a role in river health.

"We have published plans to upgrade 250 of our sites across the region including our Witney sewage treatment works."

It said the site was being upgraded at a cost of more than £17million, with work ahead of schedule and expected to be completed this year.