THE chief executive of a water supplier met with an MP to discuss surface water and raw sewage concerns.

Harwich and North Essex MP Sir Bernard Jenkin held talks with Peter Simpson, chief executive of Anglian Water, to discuss water issues in Langham and issues in West Mersea and Colchester.

During the meeting, Mr Jenkin also introduced Mr Simpson to other Anglian Water MPs, such as Rebecca Harris MP for Castle Point and Anna Firth MP for Southend West.

Mr Jenkin said: “I had a very useful meeting with Peter Simpson, chief executive of Anglian Water.

“We discussed the problem of sewage discharges into rivers and estuaries that cause pollution.

“In particular, we discussed the latest situation at Langham, where I have chaired two meetings with Anglian Water and the parish council, but progress has been slow.”

Last January Mr Jenkin attended a meeting with Langham Parish Council and Anglian Water discussing issues of drainage overflow and properties flooding.

A spokesman for Langham Parish Council said: “This meeting was an opportunity for Anglian Water to address concerns with respect to Langham Water Recycling Centre capacity issues and the widely held view that the local sewerage network is not coping with foul water discharge from existing homes in the village.

“This is likely to cause bigger problems with the plans to connect more than a 100 new homes in the next year or two.”

It was concluded following the meeting that the issues regarding overflow were mainly due to surface water following heavy downpour and since then following meetings have focused on finding a solution to this, discussions are still ongoing.

Mr Jenkin added: “I’m pleased Mr Simpson will shortly report back to me to confirm what progress has been taken towards rectifying the overflows from the sewage system and the storm discharges into the River Stour.”

Mr Jenkin voted against government plans to dump raw sewage into seas and rivers last year.

Manningtree wild swimmers group Mermaids Against Sewage in Manningtree recently launched an application for bathing water status to ensure rivers are kept safe and clean through regulation.

The group believes bathing water status is vital as Dedham is the only area with a monitored sewer outflow, with Manningtree and Brantham being unregulated.