Steve Coogan describes sewage pollution of Lake Windermere as 'national scandal'

Steve Coogan has described sewage pollution at Lake Windermere as a 'national scandal' as he and fellow funnyman Lee Mack spoke out to raise awareness of the issue. The Middleton born actor and comedian joined forces with the Would I Lie to You star, with the pair also due to appear at an event later.

The pair appeared on TV this morning to demand that privatised water companies remove sewage from Windermere in the Lake District, England's largest lake. The Alan Partridge star told ITV's Good Morning Britain: "It is a national scandal.

"The privatised water companies, since they’ve been privatised, United Utilities, who is the biggest wastewater polluter in Windermere by a country mile, have paid out £72 billion in investor dividends whilst basically not maintaining the integrity of the lake. They’ve been polluting it since its inception.

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"What we’re saying is they should reduce it to zero, there should be no pollution in Windermere, and they are putting out a lot of obfuscation to try to dilute that message." He added: "It’s a simple message. Stop putting sewage in the lake and remove the pollution what sewage is already there."

Mack said: "It’s not just about Windermere. Windermere is obviously England’s biggest, most famous lake. If the biggest lake is struggling with it, what are other smaller lakes and waterways having to handle?"

Since the privatisation of the water companies in 1989, a total of £72 billion has been paid to shareholders by the sector, according to analysis carried out by Professor Peter Hammond, an economics specialist at the University of Warwick and first reported in the Financial Times. Professor Hammond examined data by