Oxford council backs bid to stop water firm dumping sewage in Thames

Council is latest to push for bathing status for a stretch of river in order to protect it

Oxford has become the latest area to push for bathing water status for an area of river in an attempt to stop Thames Water discharging raw sewage into it.

The city council has backed a motion to apply for a section of the River Thames to become a bathing water area, akin to the status granted to coastal waters in the UK. The status drives up the standards of waterways. Currently no English river qualifies as bathing water, but the designation applies to more than 600 beaches and lakes.