Wye protestors stress role of farming at water demo

Over 150 campaigners for cleaner water in the river Wye, including a ten-foot tall “goddess” of the river, joined a mass protest in central London call for strong action against water pollution.

Dressed in blue, the campaigners joined 130 other organisations along with celebrities including broadcasters Chris Packham, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Carol Vorderman, actors Johnny Flynn and Jim Murray, champion rower Imogen Grant and bestselling author Robert Macfarlane, as well as North Herefordshire’s Green MP Ellie Chowns.

Richard Tyler of the Save the Wye campaign said that while other waterways are plagued with sewage which water companies allow into waterways, “American-style intensive agriculture has proliferated along the Wye, poisoning it for profit”.

His colleague David Gillam added: “The government has the power to designate the Wye as a ‘Water Protection Zone’, enabling the coordinated control of pollution.”

Backing up the Wye group’s claims, Chris Packham said: “This isn’t all about sewage, agricultural run-off is also a killer and must be properly regulated.”

The Wye campaigners travelled down for the day in three coaches leaving from Hereford, Hay-on-Wye and Lydney.