DOZENS of water pollution incidents were not immediately attended to in Tendring since 2018, new figures show.

A Freedom of Information request by Radar shows the Environment Agency is attending fewer incidents across England than before the pandemic.

The figures show there were 93 water pollution incidents in Tendring between 2018 and 2023, but just 19 were visited immediately by Environment Agency staff.

This means they were attended within two hours of a report coming in, or within four hours outside of the normal working day – a definition set by the organisation.

All 74 of those not visited were category three incidents, meaning they were judged as having a 'minor or minimal' impact on the environment.

It is unclear whether these incidents were checked at a later date or not at all.

The Environment Agency says there are many reasons for not visiting pollution incidents straight away.

It said some incidents can be handled remotely or instead by the emergency services, adding some reports come through some time after an incident has taken place.

Nationally, the agency attended 36 per cent of incidents within the timeframe in 2018. This dropped to 20 per cent in 2020, only climbing back to 27 per cent last year.

An Environment Agency spokesperson said: "We assess and record every incident report we receive – between 70,000 and 100,000 a year. We respond to every incident and always attend those where there is a significant risk."

Despite this, seven 'major' and 88 'significant' events were not attended within the agency's target times in 2023, a rise of three and 58 incidents respectively the year before.