Calls for change to rules after stretch of Thames fails to gain bathing water status

Spectators along the River Thames for the Henley Women's Regatta. Campaigners said people who use the river for swimming events were excluded from being considered as river users by Defra. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

Bathing water rules in England should be improved to help drive a clean-up of pollution at a spot on the River Thames in Henley, campaigners say.

In a letter to the environment secretary, Emma Reynolds, businesses, river users, community groups and civic leaders said poor water quality had been damaging the town and had put public health at risk.