People advised not to swim in section of the River Wye

The Friends of the River Wye group are calling for more to be done to protect the River Wye, after people were advised not to swim in one of it's bathing zones.

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and Powys County Council have put up signs warning bathers at The Warren in Hay-on-Wye near Herefordshire, just a month after opening as a designated bathing water zone.

Tests earlier this month revealed levels of bacteria found in the water above the safe limit for bathing.

A Natural Resources Wales spokesperson said: “On 10 July, our officers took the first bathing water sample at the Warren since it was designated.

The water quality results of the sample showed an elevated level of bacteria, this led us to inform Powys County Council. Based on this information, the local authority has erected signs advising bathers not to swim.

“After receiving the test results of the sample, our environment officers investigated the area to try to find a source of the elevated level of bacteria found in the sample, however, no direct cause was found."

Oliver Bullough from Friends of the River Wye says the news is disappointing, but the results didn't come as a surprise.

"It's very sad that at the height of summer, one of the best bathing sites on the river has got signs advising people not to swim in it," he said.

"We were really pleased when the Welsh government gave the bathing designation to The Warren, we had to push quite hard, but it was a really important step towards cleaning up the Wye.

"There is still a wealth of wildlife down there, it's still a stunningly beautiful river, it's just not as good as it should be and declining, so what we want to do is make sure we can preserve what we have got, and rebuild what we used to have."

Natural Resources Wales say they will continue to monitor samples from the river throughout the bathing season.