Anglian Water has been found guilty of failing to comply, without reasonable excuse, with a requirement to provide records by the Environment Agency.
The case was brought by the Environment Agency against Anglian Water Services as part of a wider criminal investigation involving all 10 water companies into potential non-compliance with environmental permit conditions at over 2,000 sewage treatment works.
The water company will face sentencing at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court on July 5.
Since launching the probe, the Environment Agency has served several statutory requirements for records on the company.
Anglian Water Services had entered a not guilty plea to the charge, claiming it had a reasonable excuse for non-compliance.
However having heard the evidence in the case, district judge Kenneth Sheraton rejected that claim.
Anglian Water supplies more than six million domestic and business customers.
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Last year, Anglian Water, which supplies drinking water to all or parts of Bedfordshire, Buckinghamsire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Suffolk, was named one of the worst performing water companies in the country.
The Environment Agency’s annual report on the environmental performance of water companies rated Anglian Water two out of five stars for the second year running.
It said it was concerned the company “will not or cannot change” after causing over 250 sewage pollution incidents in 2022, with 11 of these defined as serious.
Last year, it was revealed that Thames, Wessex and Southern Water illegally discharged sewage for over 3,000 hours in 2002, including on days when it was not raining.
