Dozens of water pollution incidents were not immediately seen to in two areas of East Lancashire since 2018, new figures have shown.

Data from the Environment Agency shows engineers are attending fewer incidents across England than before the pandemic.

The figures, obtained through a freedom of information request, show there were 48 water pollution incidents in Blackburn with Darwen between 2018 and 2023, just 18 of which were visited by the Environment Agency.

In Burnley, during the same period, there were 54 reported incidents, of which just 23 were visited immediately.

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.

Of the 30 not visited immediately in Blackburn with Darwen, one was a category two incident, which is classed as having a ‘significant’ impact. The remainder were category three, meaning they had a ‘minor or minimal’ impact on the environment.

In Burnley, of the 31 not visited immediately, two were category two incidents and the remainder were category three.

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

The Environment Agency has said there are many reasons for not visiting pollution incidents straight away. It said some incidents can be handled remotely or instead through emergency services, adding some reports come through some time after an incident has taken place.

Nationally, the agency attended 36% and 34% of incidents within the timeframe in 2018 and 2019 respectively. This dropped to 20% in 2020, only climbing back to 27% 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."

There were 15 water pollution events registered in Blackburn with Darwen last year, two of which were linked to a water company, while there were 11 events registered in Burnley.

Greenpeace policy director Dr Doug Parr said there was an urgent need for water regulators to be given "more staff, more money and more power", but that the last Government did not invest in regulation.

He said a fall in standards in the water industry was matched by "a decline in the bodies enforcing those standards".

A spokesperson for industry body Water UK said: "No pollution incident is ever acceptable and this is why water companies have proposed to invest £105 billion – a near-doubling of current levels – to upgrade our network.

"We need Ofwat to approve our plans in full so we can get on with it."

The Environment Agency also said: "We take our responsibility to protect the environment very seriously and will always pursue and prosecute companies that are deliberately obstructive or misleading.

"While criminal prosecutions can be lengthy processes, since 2015 we have concluded 63 prosecutions against water companies securing fines of over £151 million."

"Last week’s Water (Special Measures) Bill will make it easier for us to take enforcement action and build on our ongoing work to deliver our biggest transformation in the way we regulate," a spokesperson added.

The agency said it is recruiting more staff, increasing compliance checks and water company inspections, and visiting more water pollution incidents.

Both Blackburn with Darwen Council and United Utilities were contacted but both said it was not for them to comment.