Councillors have called for shareholders of water companies to "pay up" for the cost of the sewage crisis amid concerns that Dorset water provider Wessex Water may raise household bills to cover the costs.

It is understood Wessex Water is considering raising the cost of household bills by as much as 30 per cent in order to help deal with the pollution crisis, funding sewage spill repair costs.

Campaigners say water companies including Wessex have failed to invest to protect the coastal and river environment by routinely discharging raw sewage into rivers and the sea.

Water companies have said that they need extra money to meet targets imposed on them by the government, a national newspaper reported.

Although the rises will not be announced until next year, they could result in average bills increasing by as much as £230 in some areas.

Storm overflow discharges in the Wessex Water region significantly reduced last year, mainly due to the dry weather as well as investment from the company. However there still remains great concern about sewage being pumped into the sea.

It comes as residents across the county are already facing huge energy bills, high mortgage rates, food inflation as many struggle to cope with the cost of living crisis.

There is great concern in Weymouth and Portland, which has some of the most deprived communities in the country.

Councillors have called for water companies to foot the bill with two councillors calling for the re-nationalisation of the water companies.

Clare Sutton, Dorset Councillor for Rodwell and Wyke said: "The economies of many of our coastal communities rely on visitors being confident of the quality of local seawater and it’s also critical to how many local residents spent their leisure time.

"Given the huge profits which Wessex Water and other water companies have generated since privatisation, asking customers to foot the bill for their abject failure to fulfil their responsibilities is completely unacceptable.

"Government should be ensuring that it’s the shareholder not the customer who pays, whether via a Windfall Tax or re-nationalisation, factoring in the huge profits made over many decades."

The water industry was privatised in 1989, through the sale on ten regional water authorities

Last week the chief executive of Thames Water stepped down amid serious questions over the debt-laden company’s future after it was revealed debt in the water sector hit £60.6 billion last year, increasing by more than £1 billion from the previous year, according to Ofwat.

Dorset Councillor Brian Heatley said: "It is clear new investment is needed to prevent unacceptable pollution. It can only be paid for by Wessex Water customers, shareholders or the government, that is in the latter case from general taxation.

"If Wessex Water have been behaving in the way that it is reported Thames Water have behaved, the cost should be met mainly by the shareholders."

A Wessex Water spokesperson said: “Bill projections are based on early assessments of potential increases needed to meet regulatory and legal requirements, predominantly to deal with new nutrient standards and storm overflow reductions.

“We are pressing for changes to allow greater use of more sustainable, lower-cost nature-based solutions which would mean much smaller bill increases.”

Wessex Water has been criticised for storm overflows being discharged into the sea off Weymouth and Portland, with storm sewage being discharged on several beaches last month.

Dorset Councillor for Portland Paul Kimber said it is "unfair" that Portland residents should have to foot the bill for reducing storm overflows.

Cllr Kimber said: "This is completely unfair on our Portland community. That is already struggling with the high cost of living, record food prices, high mortgages plus high rents. 

"With shareholders taking record dividends this should now go back to the state."