THE Government has ordered a sewage works emissions clean-up in three areas of the North-East.

The areas are among 33 stretches of river and coastal areas in England newly-identified by the Government as being highly polluted by effluent.

Northumbrian Water, covering Seal Sands, on the Tees Estuary, the River Derwent, and River Wansbeck, has been ordered to cut phosphorous and nitrogen found in sewage discharges there.

They have been classified as having "eutrophic waters" - defined as "adversely affecting the ecology of local waters by sewage treatment works serving communities of more than 10,000 inhabitants".

The Government has ordered that they be brought within European safety standards by 2008.

Ministers are also clamping down on river pollution by nitrates from farm pesticides.

So-called Nitrate Vulnerable Zones have been extended to cover nearly half of the country, compared with the current eight per cent. They will include large areas of Teesside, Teesdale and North Yorkshire not previously covered.

Water companies will have to remove pesticides from drinking water, and make farmers improve control of their use of manure and chemicals.

The Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs will be issuing guidance to farmers on how to comply with the new rules.

Secretary of State Margaret Beckett said that increased intensification of farming meant that agriculture was now a major cause of water and air pollution.