A DORSET MP was among 22 Conservative MPs involved in a failed bid to retain proposals designed to clean up rivers.

Politicians voted to remove a House of Lords amendment which aimed to clean up rivers by placing a new duty on water companies to reduce raw sewage discharges into rivers.

They voted 268 to 204, majority 64, to disagree with proposal tabled by Crossbench peer the Duke of Wellington.

North Dorset MP Simon Hoare was one of 22 Tory MPs who supported the amendment.

Michael Tomlinson MP, who represents Mid Dorset and North Poole, Sir Robert Syms MP, who represents Poole, and Chris Loder MP, who represents West Dorset, all voted in favour of rejecting the proposal.

No vote was recorded for Christchurch MP Sir Christopher Chope, Bournemouth West MP Conor Burns, Bournemouth East MP Tobias Ellwood and South Dorset MP Richard Drax.

As a result of the attempt to change the Environment Bill failed.

It comes as recent high winds and heavy rain has seen sewage emptied into 17 popular swimming locations across the Dorset coast over recent days.

Meanwhile, a tougher legal air pollution limit has been stripped from the bill by MPs, amid Tory backbench pressure for swifter Government action.

Peers amended the flagship legislation to set a target for curbing particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution, which is at least as strict as World Health Organisation guidance, by 2030 at the latest.

Their proposal followed the tragic case of nine-year-old Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, who suffered a fatal asthma attack in 2013.

The coroner’s report, following a second inquest which ruled that excessive air pollution contributed to her death, called for legally-binding goals for dangerous pollutants that are in line with the WHO.

But MPs voted 307 to 185, majority 122, to disagree with the Lords amendment and remove the proposal from the bill.

The bill seeks to write environmental principles in UK law for the first time, following Brexit.

It runs the risk of becoming stuck in “ping-pong”, where a piece of legislation moves between the two Houses until agreement can be reached, as the UK prepares to host the Cop26 global climate summit in Glasgow from October 31.

Peers made several changes but MPs removed some of them, including on targets to protect species.

The Commons voted to remove an amendment designed to guarantee the independence of the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) and instead backed a measure for new guidance over the new environmental watchdog.

But MPs agreed to a proposal to allow charges to be levied on all single-use items and not just those made of plastic.

It is part of efforts to tackle the nation’s throwaway society.

It followed concerns existing materials could be replaced by alternatives to make disposable items, such as wooden cutlery, which come with their own environmental costs.

The bill will now return to the Lords for further scrutiny.