WEST Dorset MP Chris Loder has faced a backlash after he was among a large majority of Conservative MPs to reject a move aimed at preventing water companies from dumping raw sewage in rivers and the sea.

By coincidence, that is exactly what happened at the time of the Tories' vote last week. Stormy weather saw sewage emptied into rivers and along coastlines around the UK - including in west Dorset - attracting national public outrage.

The amendment to the Environment Bill would have placed a legal duty on water companies not to pump waste into rivers - but it was voted down by a majority of 268 Conservative MPs.

Among those to have voiced concerns is Mayor of Bridport Ian Bark, who said the practise of pumping raw sewage into rivers and the sea "should have ceased years ago."

"It's amazing that we still find that this is happening," he added. "Given the current financial status the country is in, savings have to be made - but I don't think this is the kind of cost saving measure, from an environmental view, that should even be considered.

"These are the sorts of things we need to be investing in for the long term future - for the health of the planet of people living on the coast."

Also voicing local opposition, Bridport town councillor Kelvin Clayton said: "The amendment would simply have required water companies to 'take all reasonable steps' to avoid using overflows.

"Overflows that, on more than 400,000 occasions last year, released untreated sewage into our rivers and the sea.

"I fail to see how any reasonable person could possibly object. What reasonable grounds could there be for objecting?"

Following the backlash, on Tuesday evening the Government announced a partial U-turn. The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs said it will put plans in place that will see water companies obliged to "secure a progressive reduction in the adverse impacts" of sewage being pumped from storm overflows into rivers and seas.

Commenting on the U-turn, cllr Clayton added: "I will have to wait until the details of the new clause are announced next week before I call it a victory for public opinion."

Meanwhile Mr Loder has defended his vote.

He said: "The whole reason the emergency system of storm outflows exist is to prevent dirty water from entering properties or contaminating drinking water supplies, which, when we have a Victorian water system built for a much smaller population, we have a pressure point.

"If the vote went through as it was, this amendment would have likely forced complete renewal, costing billions of pounds which would have forced many water companies into bankruptcy, with a considerable cost to each of us."

MP Chris Loder's response appears in full in his column in this week's Bridport and Lyme Regis News - see page 12.