LABOUR leader Keir Starmer has told of his love of the Lake District as he promises a Labour government will bring in tough new regulations to sanction water company bosses for illegal dumping of sewage in Lakes such as Windermere.

Sir Keir exclusively told The Mail  he was 'was furious and sickened to hear that millions of litres of raw sewage have been illegally pumped into Lake Windermere'.

Telling of his love of the Lake District, Sir Keir Starmer said: "When I was a child, my parents brought me to the Lake District every year. It was my mum’s favourite place in the world - the windswept hills and rugged beauty captured her heart.

"She was seriously ill, but even when she could no longer walk, my dad adapted her wheelchair so he could push her over the fells, with four of us kids and four dogs in tow.

"As a teenage boy, long walks and beautiful scenery weren’t exactly my idea of fun. But I understood exactly how my mum felt when I took my own kids to the Lake District last year.

"Generations of families like mine have visited, grown up in, and fallen in love with the Lake District. Generations more should be able to do the same."

The Labour leader has said that should a Labour government be elected on July, 4 they will make the polluter pay for any costs involved in cleaning up lakes and affected area's and introduce tough new regulations to mean bosses face criminal charges for any law breaking.

Mr Starmer said: "With a Labour government, water companies won’t get away with it anymore. We’ll make them clean up their act.

"The polluter – not the public – will pay. We’ll put failing water companies under special measures.

"Strengthen regulation so law breaking bosses face criminal charges. And we’ll block their multi-million pound bonuses until they’ve cleaned up their filth.

"We won’t let them mark their own homework anymore either – we’ll force all companies to monitor every water outlet, so they won’t be able to cover up illegal sewage dumping.

"And finally, a Labour government would introduce severe and automatic fines that no water companies can ignore for illegal sewage discharges.

"No more slaps on the wrist. No more profiteering out of pumping sewage into our waters. No more turning a blind eye."