Members of a national clean-water group have joined local campaigners at a meeting with Suffolk Coastal MP Jenny Riddell-Carpenter to call for more action to improve the River Deben.

Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) met with local water quality campaign group ‘Save The Deben’ and other local organisations in Woodbridge last Thursday.

Chaired by campaign organiser and county councillor Ruth Leach, the strategy meeting was attended by Mrs Riddell-Carpenter and included representation from East Suffolk Council, Woodbridge Town Council, the Woodbridge Youth Council and Thomas Yeung, chair of the Deben Estuary Partnership.

It was aimed a building on last year's decision to make the Deben at Waldringfield the first tidal estuary in the UK to receive designated bathing water status.

Ruth Leach and Jenny Riddell Carpenter beside the River Deben in Woodbridge.Ruth Leach and Jenny Riddell-Carpenter beside the River Deben in Woodbridge. (Image: Save The Deben)

Ms Leach said: “This designation meant that the water was tested for E. coli, weekly throughout the summer.

"The local area was monitored for plastic pollution and the water company, Anglian Water, was obligated to meet a number of standards and requirements at the waste water recycling plant at Martlesham.

"This helped to protect public health and contributed to protecting the estuarine environment.”

Mrs Riddell-Carpenter helped with water sampling and testing water quality in the summer.

She said: "I'm delighted to continue to support the work of Save the Deben, Surfers Against Sewage, and all the other local campaigners who are dedicated to improving water quality - both here in the Deben, across Suffolk and nationally.

"Our rivers and seas are the jewel in our Suffolk crown, and I'm determined to make sure that we take this chance to improve our local water quality, and ensure that Suffolk leads the way in creating safe and clean recreational water sites for more people to enjoy."

A second meeting in the afternoon was attended by citizen science groups, including the Deben Climate Centre and the River Deben Association and representation from the Essex and Suffolk Rivers Trust.