Thames Water recently discharged sewage into the River Wey at Farnham Park tributary for a 30-minute period.

The discharge – which took place from 10pm on Sunday, October 20, at the site near Water Lane – followed a prolonged spell of rainfall.

It was also one of four to take place around the Wey catchment area during the last fortnight with discharges also taking place at Crondall, Bentley and Waverley Lane on Monday, October 14.

The 12.15pm and 9am discharges at Crondall and Bentley, respectively, ran for 2 hours, 15 minutes and 1 hour, 45 minutes, with a shorter 30-minute discharge taking place at Waverley Lane.

Meanwhile, Thames Water and their counterparts could be banned from making a profit under Defra plans to overhaul the system amid public anger about discharges, bonuses, under-funded infrastructure and rising bills.

The struggling company was keen on increasing bills by 44 per cent, later reduced to 22 per cent after Ofwat refused.