The first designated bathing water area on the River Thames in London will welcome swimmers for the official start of the bathing season today (Friday, 15 May) as one of 13 new monitored swimming areas across England.

The Thames at Ham and Kingston has been designated as a new river bathing water area after campaigners gathered evidence to show thousands of people use the river for swimming throughout the year.

Marlene Lawrence, the founder of the Teddington Bluetits, which has more than 2,000 members, put in the bathing water application alongside her colleagues.

"This is amazing for the river and for the many people who enjoy it," she told The Guardian.

"We want bathing water status to be a driver of keeping the River Thames clean and it will be fantastic to have this part of the river designated."

Other locations which have been designated as bathing water areas include a tidal inlet just off the River Yealm in the south Devon; part of the River Fowey in Lostwithiel, Cornwall; the River Dee at Sandy Lane, Chester; a sea swimming area at Little Shore, Amble, in Northumberland; Pangbourne Meadow in Berkshire, which inspired the novel The Wind in the Willows; and the River Swale in Richmond, Yorkshire.

Water minister Emma Hardy said: "The introduction of these new bathing sites means better monitoring of our waterways, a boost for local tourism and greater confidence for local swimmers.

"Following years of indifference towards bathing waters, this government has expanded the number of sites as part of our overhaul of the water sector.

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"We're committed to generational reform of our water industry and won't stop until the job is done."

Campaigners began fighting for bathing water status for rivers six years ago under the EU-derived bathing water directive, in an attempt to drive a cleanup.

Bathing water designations were until then limited to coastal waters and lakes.

But rivers are suffering from a toxic cocktail of sewage discharge from water companies, forever chemicals and road and agricultural runoff and campaigners hope the more rigorous testing which is required for bathing waters will force water companies to reduce sewage pollution.

Tests in bathing waters by the regulator, the Environment Agency, have to monitor the water for faecal indicator organisms.

Local MP, Munira Wilson has also welcomed the news saying: "The news that our stretch of the river will be part of London's first-ever official bathing spot is wonderful news for all of the swimmers, kayakers, paddle boarders and rowers who love and enjoy our precious river.

"I'm grateful to local campaigners like the Teddington Bluetits and the Ham and Kingston Bathers for their tireless efforts to make this happen.

"Now, I urge the Government to go even further to ensure the highest levels of water quality in our river by scrapping Thames Water's controversial sewage recycling proposals at Teddington once and for all.

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"Then we can finally say with confidence that we have done our utmost to ensure the clean, healthy water that people and wildlife need and deserve."

People enjoy using the Thames at Teddington (Credit: Tilly O'Brien)

Thames Water's Teddington Direct River Abstraction (TDRA) proposals are suspected to replace river water with treated sewage at Teddington Lock.

Munira Wilson MP, residents and local campaigners are concerned about the environmental impact of these proposals, including on human health, biodiversity, wildlife and water quality.

The River Thames in Teddington, in Munira Wilson MP's constituency, had the sixth greatest concentration of toxic Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the UK between 2019 - 2022 (11 times above safe levels set out by the EU).