Thames 'has undergone water quality transformation'

The River Thames was decried as filthy and declared biologically dead in the 1950s, but a remarkable improvement in water quality means it is now home to 125 species of fish.

This is according to the Independent, which claimed the UK's most famous river has undergone "a transformation of staggering proportions" over the last 50 years.

It pointed out that 80 per cent of the Thames, which flows through Oxford and Reading before reaching the Greater London area, is now rated as "very good" or "good" in terms of water quality".

Last week, the turnaround was made complete when the Thames was named as the winner of the International Theiss River Prize, with the Environment Agency receiving £218,000 in prize money.

The accolade recognises outstanding examples of river management and restoration.

However, a spokesperson for the agency said there has been no "single, co-ordinated effort" to improve the waterway.

"At no moment did we suddenly decide to restore the Thames - it has been a process of regulation and remedial work," he told the newspaper.

Posted by Joseph Hutton