WATER bosses will be put in the dock unless they clean up Britain’s sewage-filled rivers, the Environment Secretary has vowed.

Steve Reed pledged to bring criminal charges against company fatcats illegally dumping sewage.

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He also said bosses will be stripped of their multi-million-pound bonuses for repeat offending under tightened-up regulations.

On Sunday Mr Reed wouldn’t clarify the level of illegal dumping needed to see water bosses locked up.

He told the BBC’s Sunday with Victoria Derbyshire: “What I want to do is clean up our water.

“We’ll do it by making the water bosses face criminal charges if they are responsible for persistent, severe levels of illegal sewage dumping.

“We will ban the payment of their multimillion-pound bonuses while they’re overseeing that kind of failure.”

Mr Reed added: “We will ring-fence customers’ money that is earmarked for spending on investing in the sewer system.

“So, if it’s not spent on that, it will be refunded to customers in a discount on their bills.”

The Environment Secretary also announced he won’t temporarily nationalise embattled Thames Water because it is currently financially viable.

Mr Reed said there is “no need to have undue concerns at the moment” and that there is “no threat to water supply”.

Thames Water has had its credit rating downgraded to “junk” status by influential ratings agency Moody’s.

Regulator Ofwat has promised to impose a “turnaround oversight regime” on the company.