A section of a Suffolk river designated as a bathing water site has been rated "good" for water quality after being ranked "poor" in 2023.

Clean water campaigner Ruth Leach said she was "encouraged" by the news that the quality of water in the River Deben at Waldringfield had improved in latest ratings from government body the Environment Agency.

Ms Leach, co-founder of campaign group Save the Deben, had sought designated bathing water status for the section at Waldringfield, meaning the water was safe for swimming, which was granted by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in April 2023.

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However, Defra refused a separate application for bathing water status for the Deben at Woodbridge on the basis that the number of swimmers using the site was too low.

But the department is now consulting on potential reforms to the status, which could see the legal definition of bathers expanded to include paddle boarders, surfers and participants in other water sports.

Earlier this month, Ms Leach said the potential change could be "huge news" for the Deben bid because non-swimmers included in the first application, to demonstrate the popularity of the site, were not counted at the time by Defra.

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Conferring bathing water status on a site means that the water is monitored by the agency.

She said: "I am encouraged to see that the Waldringfield bathing water body has been classified as 'good' for the 2024 bathing season.

"This is an improvement over the 'poor' classification of the previous year.

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"The measurements that caused the 'poor' rating in 2023 were attributed to sources other than human sewage."

She said her concern remained for the Woodbridge stretch of the Deben, which did not receive the same bacterial monitoring or protection from pollution as at Waldringfield.

She added the next chance for this section to achieve the status may be in 2027, when it may be known as a "designated recreational water body".

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