ITV Good Morning Britain’s Susanna Reid says it’s ‘shocking’ after heartbreaking de@th

Presenter Susanna Reid share her thoughts after watching Channel 4’s new series about water pollution

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Susanna Reid and Ed Balls hosted Good Morning Britain(Image: ITV screengrab)

Good Morning Britain’s Susanna Reid has admitted she got “chills” watching a new series about water pollution and the de@th of a child who contracted e-coli on a beach.

Channel 4 programme Dirty Business – which stars Jason Watkins and David Thewlis – looks at the issue of raw sewage being dumped in England’s water, with the presenter explaining that at the “heart of the programme” is the de@th of Heather Preen, who was eight when she died after being infected by e-coli 0157 in 1999.

The drama lifts the lid on how a pair of amateur investigators – Peter Hammond and Ash Smith – revealed the scale of the pollution scandal.

They appeared on Good Morning Britain on Wednesday (February 25), where Susanna told them their drama was “astonishing”.

“It is being compared to Mr. Bates versus the Post Office in terms of unearthing a scandal that is going on really in plain sight,” she said.

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Jason Watkins and David Thewlis star in Dirty Business(Image: Rob Baker Ashton / Channel 4)

Talking about what happened to Heather, she said: “She went to the beach in Dawlish in Devon, and walked through a puddle which contained, the family said, raw sewage, and became fatally ill and died in hospital less than two weeks later.

“In the programme, her mother says, we went on holiday as a family of four. We came back a family of three. No one should lose their child.”

She continued: “The biggest problem in the show, which I think is highlighted for anyone who doesn’t actually live near a river… is that raw sewage is pumped into our waterways. I mean, it’s absolutely unconscionable. We see not just excrement in the water, but tampons, sanitary waste, toilet roll. It’s revolting.”

The star said she had watched all three episodes of the series, adding: “It gives me the chills that, you know, it is shocking.

“It’s disgusting. It will make you feel sick.”

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Peter Hammond and Ash Smith appeared on the ITV show(Image: ITV screengrab)

The campaigners discussed regulation of the issue, suggesting it was “not working”, as they said: “There are a lot of good people working for the regulators. They’re not allowed to do it properly. They’re not funded.”

Susanna’s co-host Ed Balls said: “Can I put to you what they say? An Environment Agency spokesperson said the depiction of the Environment Agency in this film does not reflect the significant changes the organisation has undergone in recent years to tackle better water pollution, which we take extremely seriously.

“And they say since 2015, we’ve concluded 69 prosecutions against water and sewage companies.”