Waterborne diseases have “put over 10,000 people in hospital” since 2019, Labour said, as both Sir Keir Starmer’s party and the Liberal Democrats ramped up attacks on the “Conservative sewage scandal”.

Labour reiterated its pledge to put water companies dumping sewage into UK rivers and seas under special measures to force them to “clean up their act”.

The party highlighted new analysis of NHS hospital admissions data showing the number of people diagnosed with diseases transmitted via waterborne infection nearly doubled over the last two years, rising to a record high of 3,261 cases last year.