Kenilworth's MP has voted against a bill which would have placed a legal duty on water companies to reduce the dumping of raw sewage into rivers.

MP for Kenilworth and Southam Jeremy Wright was one of 265 MPs to vote against amendments to the Environment Bill put forward by the House of Lords.

The Environment Agency reported in April that untreated sewage was discharged 403,171 times across England in 2020 - a total of over 3 million hours of spillages.

Environment minister George Eustice had instructed Conservative MPs to vote against the amendment last week. Mr Wright was not among the 22 Tories who voted against the government.

Labour MP for Warwick and Leamington Matt Western was one of the 202 MPs to vote in favour of the bill.

A statement on the UK parliament website said the bill aims to: "Transform our environmental governance [as] we leave the EU by putting environmental principles into law; introducing legally binding targets; and establishing a new Office for Environmental Protection."

And to: "Secure long-term, resilient water and wastewater services, including through powers to direct water companies to work together to meet current and future demand."

The vote comes just days before the start of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow this Sunday (October 31).

More Kenilworth news stories:

- Planning near Kenilworth this week: House becomes swimming pool, 620 new homes, and controversial solar panels

- Property of the Week: Two-bedroom terraced house on Priory Road with no chain involved

Tory MPs took to social media yesterday (October 25) morning to defend the vote, in response to backlash from voters. Mr Wright is yet to comment.

The information in the posts, which the Guardian reports came from No 10, state that the amendments would lead to an "irresponsible" spend of "anywhere between £150bn to £650bn" to redevelop the nation's sewage system.

The bill, which would also set up a new watchdog in the Office for Environmental Protection, is due to return to the House of Lords today, before it returns to the House of Commons later this week.

(Image of Jeremy Wright via parliament.uk