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Campaigners say the state of Britain’s rivers is worsening. Over half of them polluted by sewage. There’s also a problem with agricultural run-off and chemicals. What can we do?

According to campaigners, Britain has some of the dirtiest rivers in Europe. Sewage, slurry from farms and chemicals are all a problem, too often ending up in our rivers. The parliamentary Environmental Audit Committee estimates that the discharge of raw sewage accounts for 55% of rivers in England and Wales failing to reach good ecological status. Not one river has good chemical status. So what’s going wrong and what can be done to fix it?

Joining David Aaronovitch in the Briefing Room are:

• Olivia Rudgard, Environment Correspondent for the Daily Telegraph
• Peter Hammond, retired Professor of Computational Biology at University College London
• Rachel Salvidge, Deputy Editor of ENDS Report
• Steve Ormerod, Professor of Ecology and Co-Director of the Water Research Institute, Cardiff University