Controversial targets allowing water companies to continue dumping sewage into the sea for another 15 years have been backed by several Kent MPs.

New legislation which has been passed by parliament means the quantity of phosphorus released from sewer systems must be reduced by 80% by 2038.

But critics and green campaigners say the new targets are tacit approval of a further 15 years of sewage pollution.

Following repeated discharges affecting the ecology and safety of water sources by Southern Water, campaign groups have popped up all along the Kent coast.

SOS Whitstable has been holding protests and campaigning for the renationalisation of the water industry.

Speaking about the new regulations, which was passed last week, a spokesman for the group said: “This absolutely does not go far enough. We don’t feel at all that they are taking this matter seriously enough, we don’t think they are giving themselves strict enough deadlines and we don’t think they are putting anywhere near enough pressure on water companies.

“So we feel that if more drastic action isn’t taken quickly and the Conservative MPs continue to just stick their heads in the sand, it will get to a point where it will be too late and these water sources won’t be able to recover.

“Our impression is that MPs are reluctant to criticise Southern Water and to criticise government policy and we think that is a really foolish and short-sighted way to behave.

“Ultimately they are putting their party before their constituents.

“It doesn’t matter which constituency you live in, whether it's Labour or Conservative, nobody thinks that sewage pollution is a good idea and everyone is absolutely furious about it so if these MPs don’t start treating this very seriously a lot of them are going to find themselves out of a job after the next election.”

SOS Whitstable is also pushing for the government to force water companies to compensate the industries affected by the pollution, in particular Whitstable’s oyster trade.

MP for Canterbury and Whitstable, Rosie Duffield, did not attend the vote last Wednesday – which was passed by 300 to 170 votes – but said she would have gone against the motion.

She said: “Protecting and enhancing our natural environment must be a government duty and priority, but what we see consistently from ministers is a complete lack of both ambition and urgency.

“The Environment Agency should also have the power and resources to properly enforce the rules, and water company executives must be held accountable for their actions.”

In 2021, Southern Water was fined £90 million by the government for pumping raw and untreated sewage into rivers and coastal waters in Kent and across the south east.

Out of the 17 MPs in Kent, four did not take part in the vote – Ms Duffield, Sir Roger Gale, Gordon Henderson and Helen Grant – but 13 Conservatives voted with the government to support the new targets.

But many told KentOnline they objected to suggestions their actions were supporting sewage dumping.

Helen Whately (Con), MP for Faversham and Mid Kent said: “I swim in the sea locally with my daughters and wouldn’t be supporting these plans if I didn’t know just how ambitious they are. The government's new legal targets are a huge step in holding water companies to account.

“They go much further than ever before, and they’re backed up by record fines and really strict monitoring. This problem was a century in the making and anyone saying it can be fixed overnight isn’t being straight with you.”

Others claimed misinformation on social media is misleading people on the issue.

Dartford MP Gareth Johnson (Con) said: “There is probably more false information in the public domain on this issue than any other and it has simply become a political football.

“I voted to reduce the amount of sewage being released into the sea and ensure that the biggest investment in history is spent on increasing capacity for overflows. I also voted against sewage escaping in to people's homes whilst the extra infrastructure is being built.

“If we were to stop all discharges now then human waste would have to be discharged in to people's homes.”

Damian Collins, MP for Folkestone and Hythe, who voted in favour of the 15-year target, said: “In recent weeks people have been asking, why doesn’t parliament just vote now to ban all discharges. However, votes don’t mean much unless there is a plan to act on them.”

His Tory colleague for Rochester and Strood, Kelly Tolhurst, called the sewage dumping “disgusting” despite voting with her party and passing the new targets.

She said: “This idea that Conservatives have voted to dump sewage into our rivers and seas is a hugely misleading political campaign – no MP has voted to dump sewage into our water.

“This Government is the first to tackle sewage discharge and to introduce legally binding targets against the dumping of sewage following my campaign and other Conservative MPs against sewage being pumped into rivers and seas during the passing of the Environment Act last year.

“The dumping of sewage in our waterways is disgusting.

"As someone who sails on the River Medway and lives near a sewage overflow I have been directly affected and want us to go as far as practically possible to reduce the amount of sewage going into our waterways.

“That said, it is not a problem that can be fixed overnight, a considerable amount of work needs to be undertaken to the sewerage system to end these overflows otherwise sewage would back up into homes and streets.”