Hundreds of protesters took to Port Meadow on Sunday morning to demonstrate against sewage being dumped into the River Thames by Thames Water.

At least 500 protesters attended the event which was hosted by the Clean Our River Thames (CORT) and #EndSewagePollution Mid-Thames groups.

The protest took place because outdoor swimmers were not told about a sewage release from Witney Sewage Treatment Works in the early hours of Christmas Day until 24 hours later. Meaning, they had already swum in the polluted water.

READ MORE: Protestors at Port Meadow over sewage release in River Thames

Thames Water apologised for the error in the automated email alert system which is currently being trialled across six sites in Oxford.

Oxford Mail: Hundreds of people were at the protestHundreds of people were at the protest

However, following that day Thames Water released sewage at least another 16 times.

The protesters met at Godstow car park before making their way en-mass to the river opposite the weir.

The protesters wore poo-emoji costumes, carried colourful placards with phrases including ‘say no to H2Poo’ and chanted ‘Thames Water make it clean, no more sewage in our stream’.

One anonymous protester explained they felt “trapped” when they were unable to use the river for wild swimming while sewage was being released.

They said: “I felt really trapped because I couldn’t walk to the river to do my self-care. I swim everyday so that is the thing I do for my mental health and I had drive places and sometimes swim in lakes where you are not meant to swim.”

Oxford Mail: Dianne Parkes at the protest Dianne Parkes at the protest

Oxford West and Abingdon MP Layla Moran spoke at the rally and said she is “absolutely disgusted” by the sewage releases.

She said: “Like many of you I am absolutely disgusted by what we see in our rivers and it needs to stop.

“Thank you all for coming, I was not expecting this number of people on a cold Sunday, because what it does is it puts pressure on Thames Water, on the Environment Agency and on our Government to do more.

“When [the Conservative Government] had their chance to clean up our rivers they shirked their responsibility. They the option to introduce amendments to the Environment Bill that would have put an absolute end to polluting in our rivers and they chose not to and boy do they regret it.”

Ms Moran added she is aiming to bring agencies in Oxford together to tackle the problem, send a clear message to the Environment Agency and get water bathing status for the Thames.

A Thames Water spokesperson said: “We regard all discharges of untreated sewage as unacceptable and will work with the government, Ofwat and the Environment Agency to accelerate work to stop them being necessary and are determined to be transparent.

"We understand the river users’ concerns and our aim will always be to try and do the right thing for rivers and for the communities who love and value them.”

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