River sewage leads to legal action against council

Two complainants have launched a legal challenge over allegations that Richmond Council failed to investigate complaints about sewage pollution.

Supported by environmental campaigning charity River Action, the legal action alleges that the council "failed to investigate the alleged nuisance or, alternatively, failed to take investigative steps reasonably practicable under the law".

It follows a complaint made in December 2025 by Eleanor Warren, a rower, and Suzanne Cave, a Taggs Island resident and member of Taggs Island River Watch, about sewage discharges into the Thames.

Richmond Council said the legal framework for sewage pollution and statutory nuisance complaints was "extremely complex".

The claimants say the council failed to investigate the complaint properly and did not adequately consider the evidence they provided.

Warren, a member of Mortlake Anglian & Alpha Boat Club, said: "Rowers should not have to accept the risk of sewage pollution as part of using the Thames.

"We want Richmond Council to investigate the evidence properly and fulfil its legal responsibilities to river users."

Cave said: "Living alongside the Thames, we see how pollution threatens the river and the people who depend on it.

"We are asking Richmond Council to take our evidence seriously, investigate the alleged nuisance and fulfil its responsibilities to our community."

A pre-action protocol (PAP) letter has been sent to the council, setting out the legal grounds of the proposed challenge and asking it to reconsider its position.

Under section 79(1) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, a local authority must take such steps as are reasonably practicable to investigate a complaint of statutory nuisance made by a person living in its area.

The Richmond complaint is one of 13 statutory nuisance complaints submitted to councils across the Thames catchment in December 2025, as part of River Action's Make a Nuisance campaign.

Complainants include five-time Olympic champion Sir Steve Redgrave and Olympic rowing champion Imogen Grant. Almost a year on, no council has opened a formal statutory nuisance investigation into Thames Water sewage discharges, according to River Action.

River Action's head of public affairs, Erica Popplewell, said: "Sewage pollution should never be an inevitable part of enjoying the River Thames. River users and local communities deserve clean water and councils that take their concerns seriously."

Popplewell called on the council to "act on the evidence".

"Our rivers and the people who use them deserve better," she said.

Richmond Council said the Thames was "at the heart of life in Richmond" and that they "understand and share the anger and concern" about river pollution.

They said the council would "carefully consider" whether there was sufficient evidence to support formal action, adding that the associated costs were "significant" at a time "finances were being placed under huge pressure by Whitehall funding cuts".

"The focus should be on tackling the source of untreated sewage into our rivers and holding those responsible for it to account. Water companies must invest in the infrastructure needed to stop this pollution and protect the Thames. The government must ensure regulators have the powers and resources to hold water companies to account, and regulators must use those powers to enforce the rules."

They said the council would respond to the legal action by the 10 November deadline.

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