River Ouse may become first in England to gain legal rights

The River Ouse flowing into Lewes, East Sussex, UK. It is sometimes filled with effluent from sewage plants along its course during heavy rain. Photograph: Peter Cripps/Alamy

The River Ouse is on course to be the first river in England to be granted legal rights, as part of a growing movement to bolster protection for nature through the law.

Lewes district council passed a rights of river motion acknowledging the rights of nature as a way of improving the health of local rivers by giving them similar protection to people, and agreed there was “a case to be made for considering our interactions with our local waterways”.