The Government has been slammed by MPs in the House of Commons for what they believe is a lack of action in the wake of sea life deaths off the coast of Teesside.

Shadow environment secretary Jim McMahon shared the plight of the regions fishing community, telling the Commons: “Concerned about the impact of livelihoods and jobs, generational pride impacted by the Government’s indifference.

"They said ‘the entire fishing fleet in Hartlepool is finished, there is no business left, they failed us when we begged them to listen, so now we will have to take the fight on’.”

Read more: Petition calling to stop Tees dredging reaches 20,000 signatures

The criticism comes after the government announced two weeks ago that it would not be taking any further action to investigate the cause of multiple die-off events since October 2021, following a report which concluded that a new disease was the most likely cause of the deaths. The report, however, stated the likelihood of a novel pathogen being the cause was "as likely as not".

As well as saying no further action would be taken on identifying the cause of the deaths, the government also said that no financial support would be offered to fishers who claim that stocks have been completely wiped out.

A petition calling for a halt to new dredging in the Tees relating to the Teesworks freeport while new tests are taken on deep sediment samples has passed 20,000 signatures this week. Campaigners hope that more thorough sampling of the Tees can conclusively rule out pyridine as a potential cause of the deaths.

Stockton North MP Alex Cunningham challenged Environment Secretary Therese Coffey and minister Mark Spencer to come to Teesside "to meet people from the fishing and wider community who are still looking for answers to the ongoing deaths of crustaceans and sea life off the coast.

"If I set it up, will they come to Teesside and explain what they're going to do next to explain what is causing this ongoing crisis?"

In response, Mr Spencer said: ""I share his desire to know the cause of that terrible disaster...

"Unless there is another event, which I sincerely hope that there isn't, we may never know the cause of that event."

The shadow minister, Jim McMahon linked the die-offs to sewage pollution in UK waters, asking: “Can I ask [the secretary of state] for the second time to rate her own Government’s performance on the water scandal polluting our country?”

Ms Coffey replied that ministers were taking the matter “very seriously”.

She added: “We had a further review with leading scientific advisers, that came out with what was published to the committee and to the House and we understand that… a pathogen is the most likely explanation for what happened in the North East.”

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Later in the morning's session, Jarrow MP Kate Osborne shared concerns that Northumbrian Water had “underspent its budget for repairs by 48%, yet they took profits of £2 billion a year, awarded million to shareholders, and pumped sewage into the North East waterways.”

Ms Coffey agreed, "we need to get improved environmental performance from water companies. That’s what we are doing."