'Emptying your toilet into our rivers' - campaigners' cheeky blue plaque dig at Therese Coffey

Therese Coffey has had some public toilets named after her. Credit: Paul Nightingale/PA
Campaigners have put a blue plaque on the loos in Woodbridge in Suffolk in "honour" of Therese Coffey. Credit: Paul Nightingale/PA

Cheeky anti-sewage campaigners have taken another dig at the environment secretary by putting up a blue plaque on public toilets in their town - and re-christening them the "Therese Coffey Bogs".

The loos in Woodbridge have been named after the local MP, with the famous blue sign now adorning the front.

Campaign group Effluencers put a tongue-in-cheek video on Twitter saying it was an honour to at the opening of the new loos.

Local protesters have been angered by levels of pollution in the rivers in Dr Coffey's Suffolk Coastal constituency.

Writing on the blue plaque reads: "Servicing the water industry. Therese Coffey. Sort of a Dr, but not really. Emptying your toilet into our rivers, creeks and Suffolk coastline. Praise Be."

The sign is believed to have been the work of Campaign Chorus, a group of activists fighting sewage releases into rivers and waterways.

The government has come under increasing pressure in recent months over sewage releases into the sea and rivers.

Campaigners including Feargal Sharkey have been highlighting concerns about pollution in waterways.

The blue plaque has been put on the wall of the loos in Woodbridge Credit: Paul Nightingale

The sign said the site had been "proudly sponsored by Therese Coffey MP".

In a statement to the East Anglian Daily Times, Dr Coffey defended her record.

“Improving the water quality in our rivers and sea in Suffolk is really important to me," she said.

"That is why I am pleased about the consistently excellent ratings of the beaches in Felixstowe and why I intervened with Anglian Water to improve their Southwold treatment site, which led to Southwold Denes achieving excellent status and gaining the blue flag.

"As Secretary of State, I have been working flat out to create a new Plan for Water, announced last week, which maps out the government’s action plan for tackling all types of pollution including storm overflows and toughening up enforcement."

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