Watch: Swans swim through apparent sewage being pumped into River Avon

Swans have been filmed swimming through an apparent sewage spill from a water company outlet on the River Avon.

Paul Powlesland, an environmental campaigner, took footage of a flock of swans and ducks swimming and feeding as brown water poured into the river in Bath, Somerset, from an outlet.

Wessex Water confirmed that the spill appeared to be from a storm overflow, and said any sewage was likely to be heavily diluted. But Mr Powlesland said the outflow appeared to have toilet paper in it and smelled like raw sewage.

"It's hard to imagine a more shameful indictment of our sewage crisis than what I witnessed on the River Avon this afternoon," he said.

"A flock of swans and ducks feeding and cavorting in a plume of raw sewage, just a few hundred metres from the centre of the genteel City of Bath. This huge sewage spill entered the river after a short 10-minute rainstorm of average intensity."

Record high sewage spills

Water companies are permitted to spill sewage into England's waterways, but only during exceptional circumstances such as heavy rain.

Last year raw sewage spills into rivers and seas hit a record high, to more than four million hours. Campaigners say the regularity of spills suggests water companies are in frequent breach of their legal permits, and have called for regulators to clamp down .

Last year Wessex Water had 125 pollution incidents recorded by the Environment Agency , but still achieved an "industry leading" four-star rating from the regulator.

Responding to Mr Powlesland, the company said it planned to upgrade the outflow responsible for the spill by 2035. It added that discharges from the overflow will "largely be rainwater and run-off from the road - any sewage would be heavily diluted".

"We agree overflows are outdated though and are investing £3 million every month to reduce them, with plans to increase this investment between 2025-30," it said.