Severn Trent has pledges to plant 1.3m trees in next five years, having planted almost 700,000 since 2015

The pledge will see the trees planted by 2025 through a variety of schemes, including a partnership with the Woodland Trust.

Severn Trent Chief Executive Liv Garfield said: “Everyone knows that planting trees is great for the environment but they can also really help the quality of our rivers.

“We’ll be working hand-in-hand with farmers across our patch to find the best way to get them to plant more trees and so reduce the run off of chemicals in rivers that then find their way to our treatment works. By doing that, we help keep our rivers cleaner

and also reduce the amount of treatment we have to give our wonderful water before it goes to our customers.

“In the long-term, increasing the number of trees in the region will also help reduce flooding as they’re an amazing natural barrier when planted in the right place.

“All-in-all, we’re really excited about this scheme, especially as it backs up the triple carbon pledge we made earlier this year to move to all electric vehicles, all renewable power and zero emissions by 2030.”

The trees, which are all native species, will be paid for by Severn Trent but supplied by the Woodland Trust.