A NEW Channel 4 drama into polluted water will feature the death of an eight-year-old girl linked to sewage discharged into the sea at Dawlish Warren.

The case of Heather Preen, who died in 1999 of E coli poisoning after a family holiday, is among a number of stories told in the drama due to air soon.

Based on a decade-long investigation into England’s water companies, and ‘telling the real stories of whistleblowers and victims who believe their lives have been destroyed after encountering sewage polluted water’, Dirty Business is a factual drama investigating ‘one of the biggest potential corporate scandals’ in British history.

The Preen’s tragic story may be more than 25 years ago but comes as South West Water is nearing completion of a multi-million pound scheme in Dawlish aimed at improving water quality in the area.

Eight-year-old Heather died two weeks after contracting E coli while on a family holiday at Dawlish Warren where days earlier a nearby storm pipe had discharged into the sea.

The youngster had played on the Blue Flag beach but became ill a week later.

She was admitted to hospital but her parents agreed to switch off her life support machine after she suffered brain damage and kidney failure.

Heather was one of four primary cases of E coli 0157 contracted at the resort in 1999, linked by the fact that all four people visited the same beach on the same day, an inquest at Teignmouth was told.

The new drama follows the story of two unlikely detectives, who notice fish in the river running through their Oxfordshire hamlet are dying.

They contact their water company to find out why, and the company’s strange and evasive reply sparks an investigation that remains ongoing to this day.

David Thewlis plays Ash, a concerned citizen, and former police detective, of a small town in Oxfordshire who notices that his local river is becoming increasingly polluted.

Ash teams up with his neighbour Peter, played by Jason Watkins, a Professor of Computational Biology who uses his scientific rigor and investigative skills to establish the local sewage works is not treating sewage correctly, subsequently and frequently dumping raw, untreated sewage into local waterways.

The drama also follows the true story of the Preen family, ‘wracked by grief’ when Heather dies after contracting e-coli.

The family believe Heather’s death was the result of her coming into contact with the raw sewage.

David Thewlis said: ‘What shocked me about this story was just how much has been allowed to go unchecked — two ordinary men uncovering negligence, illegal pollution, and corporate indifference that should never have been tolerated.

‘Being a part of this series has been a chance to channel the anger and frustration so many feel about what’s been done to our rivers and communities, and to show the courage it takes to stand up and demand accountability.’

Jason Watkins said: ‘I wanted to make this series because of how human and grounded the story is.

‘It’s told through ordinary people who refuse to look away when something isn’t right.

‘Dirty Business captures the quiet determination it takes to stand up to a system far bigger than the individual, and shining a light on the real human cost of environmental damage and corporate neglect.’