‘Safe’ river was so polluted it made children sick, MPS told

CHILDREN missed school with stomach bugs after swimming in a river the Environment Agency claimed was “good enough to drink”, a report found.

Campaigners in Ilkley, W Yorks, collected stories of schoolchildren suffering from gastrointestinal problems after swimming in the town’s River Wharfe, in 2018. Last year the stretch, situated near a sewage works, was named the most polluted bathing site in England.

Prof Becky Malby, co-founder of the Ilkley Clean River Group, told MPS on the environmental audit committee that Environment Agency staff claimed the water was practically pure.

Tests carried out by residents later showed it was polluted by sewage to levels more than 30 times the safe limit for people to swim.

A GP in the area had noticed a rise in health problems but had not made the link with the river, she added.

She told the committee: “We knew that kids were sick and missing school.

“We knew that local people who tend to swim, paddle and play downstream of the sewage works were getting ill in the summer.

“We did a bit of a campaign on Facebook to find out how often, and we had masses of responses.”

The committee’s report, published yesterday, criticised water companies and the Environment Agency for “turning a blind eye” to the problem of illegal sewage dumping in Britain’s rivers.

It also said real-time information about sewage discharges into rivers should be shared with the public “as a matter of urgency”.

An Environment Agency spokesman said: “We welcome the recommendations and will respond in due course.”