It is now one year since a catastrophic pollution incident at Kings Dyke in Whittlesey devastated the local waterway and killed around 1,000 fish. The Environment Agency itself classified the event as a Category 1 incident – the most severe level of environmental harm.
Yet despite that, and despite employing more than 13,000 staff on a budget exceeding £2.2 billion, no answers have been provided to the public.
Steve Barclay, MP for NE Cambs, said: “The public in Whittlesey and across Fenland have a right to know who caused this serious level of pollution, when they will face enforcement action, and what changes have been made to ensure it does not happen again.”
September 2024 – The alarm is raised
When the incident was first reported in late September last year, both Anglian Water and the Environment Agency admitted “significant numbers of fish had been killed.”
Barclay said: “This type of pollution is unacceptable, and I will push for the toughest sanctions to apply.”
Anglian Water acknowledged a pump failure at their Stanground site but failed to disclose the length of the discharge or its scale. Environment Agency staff conducted water tests, but residents were told it would take a month for any enforcement decision to be made.
December 2024 – Broken promises
By December, three months after the spill, residents still had no explanation. The Environment Agency had originally promised a decision on November 5th. That date passed without action.
Barclay said: “Over twelve weeks after the incident, residents of Whittlesey are still waiting for an explanation regarding a pollution issue that the Environment Agency has classified as the most serious.”
June 2025 – Raising it in Parliament
Frustrated by continued delay, Barclay brought the matter to the House of Commons in June this year.
He told MPs: *“At King’s Dyke last year, a Category 1 pollution incident—the most severe classification—resulted in over 900 dead fish, linked to a suspected Anglian Water overflow pipe failure discharging for 23 hours.
“The EA promised lab results within a week and enforcement decisions by November 2024, but delays have now pushed this to September 2025, leaving Whittlesey residents without answers or accountability.”*
Barclay said the failure was part of a wider pattern of inaction by the Environment Agency, which has failed to act decisively on environmental damage across the East of England.
August 2025 – Still silence from Anglian Water
Ten months on, Barclay warned publicly of a cover-up. Internal Environment Agency papers described the Whittlesey incident as a likely Category 1 event – yet the official findings remained hidden.
Barclay said: “Despite the pollution occurring in September, and water tests being conducted in October 2024—tests I was told at the time would reveal who was responsible—local residents are still being kept in the dark.”
He added: “The body most likely responsible for this pollution—Anglian Water—has been silent, other than to suggest to me at the time that it was not their fault.”
Barclay warned that if Anglian Water’s Stanground pipe was ultimately found to be the cause, it would raise serious questions about their lack of transparency – particularly as they prepare to consult on plans for a major new Fens reservoir.
September 2025 – One year on, still no accountability
Now, at the one-year mark, residents are told the Environment Agency may finally publish its findings. But after missed deadlines in November 2024, January 2025, and May 2025, there is little confidence this will happen.
Barclay said: *“Like at Saxon Pit where over 122,000 tonnes of waste was illegally dumped, we have seen no enforcement action launched. Like at Wisbech Port, where the decision on whether to allow the storage of large volumes of waste is delayed, there is a complete lack of transparency with the public on an issue of public interest.
“I have raised this issue in Parliament. Repeatedly written to the Environment Agency. But the dither and delay continues.”*
A call for answers
The people of Whittlesey deserve to know the truth. They deserve to know what caused this environmental disaster, what punishment will follow, and what measures will prevent it from happening again.
Barclay said: “I will continue to press for the toughest action to be taken against those that pollute our waters.”
