NEW data has revealed the River Wharfe in Ilkley – where thousands of people swim every year – is the most polluted bathing spot in the country.

Last year, a stretch of the river between the Main Bridge and Beanlands Island was added to the list of bathing waters in England from 2021.

It was the first of its kind to gain bathing status, as all other designated sites across the country are either coastal or lakeside destinations.

Campaigners were delighted as it meant the Environment Agency would regularly take samples from the river to assess whether action is needed to cut bacteria levels and to ensure the water is clean and safe for swimmers.

However, after recent testing at two sites on the river, samples found the average levels of E. coli, which are indicative of human or animal faeces present in the water, were 20 times higher than what the Environment Agency deems safe.

Equally, levels of intestinal enterococci, which also indicate faecal contamination, were 10 times higher than safe levels, putting swimmers at risk of illness if there were to go in the water.

A spokesperson for Ilkley Clean River campaign group, said: “Our citizen science project demonstrated the seriousness of the pollution at Ilkley. We applied for bathing status because so many people come here to enjoy the river with no idea about the pollution, they are exposing themselves and their families too.

“Kids paddle and play in water that can be a danger to their health.

“Bathing status got us this regular water testing, which makes it impossible to ignore the problem.

“Overall, this testing and the attention of being at the forefront of river bathing status is securing the attention of all the agencies and we are working together to get a plan for cleaning up the river in Ilkley and we are hopeful we will have an agreed plan by the end of the year.”

By gaining bathing status, it also meant that the site gets signage, to ‘warn people’, the group added.

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: “Rivers are very different to coastal waters – and as the first stretch of river to be designated as bathing water in England, the River Wharfe faces different challenges.

“Bathing water sites in England have been monitored since the 1990s, with 98.9 per cent of waters meeting the required standard in 2019.

“We know that water quality won’t change overnight, but will require work from water companies, farmers, and others to see change. This is already underway through a coalition led by Yorkshire Water with the Environment Agency, Bradford Council, National Farmers Union (NFU), Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, and landowners upstream of Ilkley.”

The Environment Agency is working in partnership with Yorkshire Water and the iWharfe citizen science project to investigate the sources of bacteria in the Wharfe catchment which may affect bathing water quality at Ilkley. However, Yorkshire Water has warned that it will not be a ‘short term fix’.

Yorkshire Water is hoping to improve water quality by reducing discharges from sewer overflow points, which will include reducing the amount of water entering sewers from Ilkley Tarn, as well as piloting a ‘smart network’ sewer system in Ilkley, that ‘will combine the existing monitoring with additional advanced techniques in the sewer network.’

A spokesperson for Yorkshire Water added: “We have formed a partnership with other key stakeholders in the region and are committed to delivering water quality improvements on the River Wharfe.

This will not be a short-term fix and will require significant investment as well as multiple agencies working together closely to play their part in achieving our aims.

A timetable for work to upgrade Rivadale CSO was outlined at a recent public meeting and we are expecting this project to be completed in December 2021, with further work to increase the capacity of the sewer networks to follow.”