EXTINCTION Rebellion activists from Bradford on Avon and Bath have hung banners from bridges along the River Avon to protest about pollution.

They joined protests throughout the South West yesterday (December 12) to highlight the Government’s failure to protect England’s waterways from pollution.

The groups hung banners on the Pulteney Bridge in Bath and on the bridges at Bradford on Avon, the Dundas Aqueduct and at Limpley Stoke.

Bradford on Avon resident Nicky Reynolds, from Extinction Rebellion, said “The Avon is polluted with sewage and hazardous chemicals. It's not safe for wildlife and it's not safe for us.

“There are fishermen, kayakers and walkers all along here and it has become hugely popular with wild swimmers but many don’t realise that raw sewage is frequently discharged straight into it.

“Climate change will only make matters worse. We will get more extreme weather and more sewage in our rivers.”

The activists say the River Avon is not alone. They claim there isn’t one river in England, where there are 4,670 bodies of water, which has designated bathing water status. France has 573, Italy 73 and Germany 38.

Extinction Rebellion said: “Every English river has failed tests for chemical pollution and 84 per cent failed to meet the target for good ecological status. Raw sewage is discharged into them when the combined sewage overflows and pumping stations are allowed to overflow.”

Nick Aslett, from Extinction Rebellion in Bradford on Avon, said: “Two local MPs, Jacob Rees Mogg and Michelle Donelan, are refusing to commit to supporting this bill. They need to understand that polluted rivers and dying wildlife are symptoms of a global crisis that needs to be tackled now.”

Mel Clarke, of Extinction Rebellion in Bath, added: “The Government continues to ignore these stark warning signs that we are facing ecological collapse. Scientists have all the evidence we need but nothing is happening.

“We’re asking people to contact their MP to ask them to support the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill coming before Parliament in the new year. This is our best chance of Government finally facing up to the climate crisis now affecting life everywhere on the planet.”

The UK’s nine private water companies obtain licences to release untreated sewage into rivers at times of heavy rainfall, to avoid flooding, but it happens at other times too – and climate change makes extreme weather more common.

Wessex Water, which is one of the better-performing companies, released raw sewage on 13,876 occasions over 107,404 hours in 2019. Upstream from Warleigh Weir, one of the most beautiful swimming spots in the UK, sewage was released for a total of 335 hours in 2019.