Guardian ‘ Council is latest to push for bathing status for a stretch of river in order to protect it

Oxford has become the latest area to push for bathing water status for an area of river in an attempt to stop Thames Water discharging raw sewage into it.  The city council has backed a motion to apply for a section of the River Thames to become a bathing water area, akin to the status granted to coastal waters in the UK. The status drives up the standards of waterways. Currently no English river qualifies as bathing water, but the designation applies to more than 600 beaches and lakes. The measure would mean the river would be subjected to a strict testing regime based around public health requirements. It comes after campaigners in Ilkley submitted an application for bathing water status for a stretch of the River Wharfe.

More than 4,000 people have signed a petition in support of bathing water status for the Thames in Oxford, and an end to sewage pollution.  Click here to read more