Britains Most Iconic Waterways and Lakes are ‘Dying’ Say Campaigners

A couple sit on a bench looking out across the River Wye towards Wales, from the village of Brockweir, western England, on Oct. 15, 2020 Geoff Caddick /AFP via Getty Images

Britain’s most iconic waterways, including the jewel in the crown of its freshwater lakes, are “dying” say leading campaigners, because government agencies are failing to crack down on sewage and slurry polluters, posing a risk to health and wildlife.

Campaigners say years of swingeing cuts have fatally weakened the environment agency’s role in protecting England’s celebrated Lake Windermere in the north-west of the country, once inspiration for Romantic poet William Wordsworth of “Daffodils” fame.