CANDIDATES running to be the mayor of the new North East Combined Authority have hit out at water companies over the dumping of sewage into the country’s rivers and seas.

At a hustings event in Alnwick last week, four of the six potential mayors faced questions from more than 80 members of the public. Hosted by Friends of the Earth, the event focused on the environment and green policies.

One attendee said there had been 460,000 discharges of raw sewage into rivers, lakes and seas in 2023. He added that the issue didn’t just affect “graduates in the Thames” and questioned what candidates planned to do about the issue.

READ MORE: Region's mayor and PCC election candidates confirmed

Independent candidate Jamie Driscoll said: “I can’t be the only one who looks at this and sees these companies are making billions and sending their dividends overseas. It will cost billions to sort.

“We should just take them back into public ownership. I don’t have the power to do that, but I will campaign about it.

“We’re told it’s not affordable – fine the hell out of them for doing it, their share value disappears.”

Labour’s Kim McGuinness added: “It’s an absolute damn disgrace. We have to hold their feet to the flame.”

She also criticised the national Conservative party for voting against measures to tackle the problem. She said: “We need to stop voting against legislation, like the Tories have done. We have to make it very clear that we will not accept it at any time.”

Conservative candidate Guy Renner Thompson said; “I don’t think there’s anyone here that is not disgusted by it. This isn’t a problem just in England

“It’s also a problem in Scotland, where the water companies are in public ownership. It’s a problem 200 years in the making with combined sewers that take rain water and sewage – and it hasn’t stopped raining for months.

“It’s going to cost around £1,000 per household every year to fix this problem if we were to go to a separate system for rainwater and sewage. We’re going to pay for it either through taxes or our water bills.

“We’re all going to be campaigning to get it fixed.”

Aidan King of the Liberal Democrats was the final candidate to answer. He said: “It’s a huge problem.

“We’ve had a population explosion and not had the investment. Privatisation has been a complete failure.

“It is not Lib Dem national policy to take water companies back into public ownership, but it has been such a failure that I would look favourably on nationalisation to sort this problem.”

Green Party candidate Andrew Gray and Reform UK’s Paul Donaghy were unable to attend the hustings.