'Don't swim' at 12 of 14 river bathing sites, as more locations announced

Signs warning people not to swim are in place at almost all of England's official river bathing sites due to concerns the water could be unsafe.

It comes as the government announces six new river bathing sites will be monitored for the first time this summer, including a first location on the River Thames in London.

In the last week the BBC has visited all the 14 existing inland river locations which were tested by the Environment Agency last year for contamination from bacteria linked to human and animal faeces.

Only the River Stour in Suffolk and the River Thames in Oxfordshire had acceptable levels, while water quality at the 12 others was rated "poor" and people advised not to swim.

The six new additions mean there are now more than 460 locations being regularly tested by the Environment Agency. The vast majority are coastal, but an increasing number are on lakes and rivers with the results from the tests posted on a government website.

In order to be designated as a bathing site the location must meet specific criteria including the number of bathers who use the site and whether there are nearby toilet facilities.

Water quality at coastal locations is generally much better than inland, with rivers frequently polluted by sewage discharges and agricultural run-off.

Campaigners say that getting a river designated - and the water testing regime it brings - has become one of the most effective ways to force water companies to take action to reduce sewage spills.

One campaigner called it "bonkers" that the best way to get a polluted river cleaned up was turn it into a popular site for swimming.

Annoucing the new sites, Water Minister Emma Hardy said: "The introduction of these new bathing sites means better monitoring of our waterways, a boost for local tourism, and greater confidence for local swimmers."

But water companies are less impressed at the growing number of monitored bathing sites.

"Designating an area as a bathing water before it is suitable for bathing and without a plan in place to clean it up risks confusing the public, who will rightly believe it is safe to swim there," a spokesman for Water UK, which represents the water companies, told the BBC.

The River Wharfe at Ilkley in Yorkshire was the first river to be designated as a bathing site in 2020 and as such is an important test case.

"When it rains, there can be tens of thousands of E.coli units per 100ml," Karen Shackleton from the Ilkley Clean River Group tells me.

E.coli is one of the bacteria linked to faeces which the Environment Agency tests for. Anything over 900 units per 100ml triggers advice to stay out of the water.

Fellow campaigner Di Leary points at the sewage overflow pipe on the other side of the river. "We're basically swimming in other people's poo," she says, before taking a quick dip.