All the rivers and beaches in England and Wales where raw sewage is being dumped

Human waste was pumped into England's rivers 400,000 times last year, however Tory MPs last week voted against an amendment to the Environment Bill which aimed to stop the waterways from being used as 'open sewers'

New maps show all the places where raw sewage has been dumped into rivers and beaches in England and Wales.

Human waste is sometimes pumped out of the sewage system and into rivers or the sea through safety release valves called 'combined sewer overflows'.

Sewage leaves these valves when there is heavy rainfall - to prevent waste from backing up into homes.

These so-called 'storm overflows' are only supposed to take place under 'exceptional circumstances'.

But raw sewage leaked into rivers more than 400,000 times in England last year, the Environment Agency said.

Despite this, Tory MPs voted against an amendment to a bill which would have prevented companies from dumping untreated sewage in the country's rivers and seas.