Comedian Russell Brand hit out at the dumping of sewage into the River Thames – as he spoke at a campaign event on Saturday.

Henley Mermaids, a group of swimmers in the town, organised the riverside rally to raise awareness of sewage being released into the Thames.

Russell Brand, who lives in Henley and owns The Crown pub in nearby Pishill, told the campaign event: “Without the regatta, without this river there is no Henley.

“The entire identity is built around this river and the idea that it’s a dumping ground for – if I said the word that’s most commonly used to describe it you’d be appalled and yet in reality it’s being pumped into the river where people swim and live.

“It’s an example of [our] detachment and we need to awaken to that reality.”

He said there was a need for ‘community engagement and involvement in the governance of municipal facilities’.

The event on Saturday marked the end of a summer-long swimming challenge by the Henley Mermaids, whose stage-by-stage marathon paddle along the Thames raised money for charity Surfers Against Sewage and raised awareness of filth in the river.

One of the five ‘mermaids’, South Oxfordshire district councillor Jo Robb, said: “It’s devastating and angering that Thames Water continues to dump raw sewage into the River Thames, in wet weather and dry, because of its ongoing failure to invest properly in sewerage infrastructure and because of the total failure of the regulators and government to properly control the industry.”

The situation was the result of ‘decades of failure to invest in infrastructure’ and a failure by the ‘defunded Environment Agency and OFWAT to hold them to account’, she said.

Thames Water told ITV yesterday that it was ‘unacceptable’ for sewage to enter rivers, even when allowed by law. “We take this matter very seriously,” a spokesman said.

The company said it had published an action plan aimed at ‘protecting and improving the environment’. It had pledged to cut sewage spills by half by 2030 and by 80 per cent in ‘sensitive catchments’.

Work was ongoing to increase capacity at sewage works across the Thames Valley, including in Witney and Fairford, the firm added.

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This story was written by Tom Seaward. He joined the team in 2021 as Oxfordshire's court and crime reporter.  

To get in touch with him email: Tom.Seaward@newsquest.co.uk

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