Britain's Dirty Rivers

According to campaigners, Britain has some of the dirtiest rivers in Europe. Sewage, slurry from farms and chemicals are all a problem, too often ending up in our rivers. The parliamentary Environmental Audit Committee estimates that the discharge of raw sewage accounts for 55% of rivers in England and Wales failing to reach good ecological status. Not one river has good chemical status. So what's going wrong and what can be done to fix it?

Joining David Aaronovitch in the Briefing Room are: Olivia Rudgard, Environment Correspondent for the Daily Telegraph

Peter Hammond, retired Professor of Computational Biology at University College London

Rachel Salvidge, Deputy Editor of ENDS Report

Steve Ormerod, Professor of Ecology and Co-Director of the Water Research Institute, Cardiff University Producers: John Murphy, Kirsteen Knight, Soila Apparicio

Sound Engineer: Neil Churchill

Editor: Jasper Corbett Photo: Chemical Pollution from Industrial Outfall Pouring into River Mersey UK. Credit: Avalon/Universal Images Group via Getty Images