Bibury residents protest 'shameful' sewage pollution of River Coln

Residents of a Gloucestershire village protested on Saturday morning (22 April) against the "shameful" pollution of the River Coln.

The protest was held by members of the Coln Residents Against Pollution in Bibury and were joined by other passionate protestors from neighbouring towns and villages.

While there is no suggestion of sewage releases going directly into the river at Bibury, there are discharges in other spots along the Coln.

Demonstrators wanted to get their voice heard, educate others and make Thames Water think twice before releasing untreated sewage into the water.

James Hooper, member of the Coln Residents Against Pollution group, said: "We are protesting against the release of untreated sewage into the River Coln.

"There is no-one out there saying we should be pumping untreated sewage into our rivers.

"There is the public will and now we need to keep the pressure on the policy makers to fine water companies."

Another demonstrator, Katie Blackwell, said: "We have just had enough. It's time to say no to sewage.

"We want our children to be able to play in the river. A lot of us grew up around here and enjoyed playing in these rivers.

"But now it's really scary. It's really worrying what's going on in there now."

Previously, Thames Water has told ITV News West Country: "Our shareholders have recently approved a business plan that sees us spending an additional £2billion, beyond what our customers are funding, so we can improve outcomes for customers, leakage and river health.

"We’ve also committed to a 50% reduction in the total annual duration of spills across London and the Thames Valley by 2030, and within that an 80% reduction in sensitive catchments.”