Chris Packham joins 1000’s marching via London to demand motion to sort out Britain’s polluted rivers and shoreline with TV presenter calling for Labour to take care of the ‘absolute disaster’

Thousands of people marched through central London today to demand ‘serious action’ from the government in cleaning up the UK’s rivers and waterways.

Campaigners from River Action, Greenpeace, the Wildlife Trusts and British Rowing took part in the March for Clean Water event today, dressed in blue and carrying a banner which read: ‘Stop poisoning Britain’s water’. 

It comes as the country is currently facing a sewage crisis, as privatised water companies discharged raw sewage into the rivers and sea for approximately  3.6million hours in 2023.

Four operators, Anglian Water, Southern Water, Thames Water and Yorkshire Water, were deemed responsible for 90 per cent of serious pollution incidents last year. 

Around 15,000 protesters met at the Albert Embankment on Sunday before heading along the River Thames to a rally in Parliament Square.

Participants were asked to bring a sample of the waters they love and to wear blue to form ‘a mass human river’ on the march.

TV presenters Chris Packham, Liz Bonnin and celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall were spotted amongst the crowd.

The campaign calls for an immediate root and branch review of the regulator Ofwat and the Environment Agency, as well as the stricter enforcement of existing laws and regulations on water pollution.

The campaign also wants to ensure all polluting industries invest in upgrading infrastructure, reducing water wastage and helping farmers restore habitats.

Sculptures of marine and freshwater animals were raised to float above the crowd, including a whale, jellyfishes, a seagull, as well as blue effigies of the ‘water goddess’.

Marchers also wore signs reading ‘Stop the plop’, ‘Species not faeces’, and ‘Cut the c**p’. They also chanted slogans such as ‘Private water’s full of c**p, take our water back!’

Olympic rower Imogen Grant said the UK’s rivers have experienced a ‘horrendous decline’ since she began her career.

She said: ‘Our rivers are in a terrible state. When I learned to row 10 years ago, they were just at the start of this horrendous decline that’s been precipitated probably for the last thirty or forty years, but I’ve really noticed a difference.

‘I spend hours and hours on the water training every day in the rowing boats during my sessions, and seeing nappies floating along, seeing plastic bags, seeing scum along the pontoons that we’re training on… It’s just not good enough and something needs to change.’

Grant said she believes she has fallen sick in the past because of her daily contact with polluted river waters.

She added: ‘Frequently when we would train for weekends on the Thames in London, from a squad of thirteen girls, maybe one or two would get sick every time.

‘And we’re not even in the water. We’re just on it. It’s really scary.’

Meanwhile Chris Packham criticised the Government for not mentioning climate in its Budget.

Speaking outside Westminster in London, the naturalist and TV presenter said: ‘Rachel Reeves gave a Budget in 2024, whilst Valencia was being flooded and people were losing their lives, and she didn’t use the word climate or nature once in that Budget. Now that’s scary.’

Pointing at Parliament, Mr Packham added: ‘I know there are plenty of MPs and ministers over there who are desperate to do what they need to do and do their job – but they need to be given access to the resources, and part of that is finance.

‘We’re here in good natured mood because I think that we’ve got to give them time, and this is going to take some time, but you have to mitigate that against the urgency of the situation. Because it is an absolute crisis.

‘Let’s see what happens in the next few months, but if by the end of the summer we’re not getting some serious action in terms of improving water quality and addressing those issues, we’ll be back on the streets.’

The Water (Special Measures) Bill, set out by the Government in Parliament last month, will aim to give regulators powers to issue harsher penalties to water companies that damage the environment, including severe and automatic fines, blocked bonuses and even two-year prison sentences for uncooperative executives.

A Water UK spokesperson said: ‘The March for Clean Water is right to demand change and we support its aims. We agree that the system is not working. It is too complicated, too slow and is not delivering for people or the environment.

‘No sewage spill is ever acceptable, and water companies want to invest a record £108 billion to ensure the security of our water supply in the future and end sewage entering our rivers and seas.

‘Ofwat have proposed cutting this by £20 billion. As a direct result, more housing will be blocked, the recovery of our rivers will be slower, and we will fail to deal with the water shortages we know are coming.

‘We cannot delay upgrading and expanding vital infrastructure any longer and need Ofwat to reconsider its approach.’