You first, Therese: Coffey scoffed for praising swimming areas while standing next to a muddy creek

Therese Coffey came under fire today after she promoted new bathing waters in the UK – using a photo of herself next to a muddy estuary.

The Environment Minister tweeted a photo of herself at the mouth of the River Deben in her constituency of Suffolk, one of four new official ‘wild swimming areas’ for the 2023 summer season.

But to coincide with today’s announcement, she had to take a photo during inclement weather at the Waldringfield site, next to a muddy bank and billowing water in the river, and under a rain-filled sky.

It comes as the government is under pressure to deal with the scale of the pollution, particularly sewage, which is dumped into UK rivers and offshore.

Local residents have reported discovering E. coli bacteria, which they say come from sewage, in a spot just a few miles upstream from the new bathing waters.

Ms Coffey didn’t allow replies to her tweet, but it didn’t stop other Twitter users from poking fun at the image.

Angela Rayner, deputy leader of Labor, quipped: “Aren’t you taking the plunge yourself?”

Ms Coffey didn’t allow replies to her tweet, but it didn’t stop other Twitter users from poking fun at the image.

Nigel Pickover, a former editor of East Anglia’s Eastern Daily Press newspaper, said: ‘Isn’t the Waldringfield site just a few swims downstream from the heavily polluted Martlesham Creek with its massive E. coli problems?’

In her original message, Ms Coffey said: ‘Four new designated seaside resorts have been confirmed today, including Waldringfield on the River Deben in the Suffolk coast – the first estuary site’.

But Nigel Pickover, a former editor of the Eastern Daily Press newspaper in East Anglia, said, “Isn’t the Waldringfield site just a few swims downstream from the heavily polluted Martlesham Creek with its massive E. coli problems?”

The sites in Rutland, Devon and Suffolk will be given bathing water status from next month, the government has announced. This means they will benefit from regular water quality monitoring.

In addition to Waldringfield, sites include Sykes Lane Bathing Beach and Whitwell Creek at Rutland Water and Firestone Bay in Plymouth.

They bring the total number of official bathing waters nationwide to 424, the highest on record.

The government said the proportion of bathing water rated as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ rose from 76 per cent to 93 per cent, while 72 per cent are regarded as ‘excellent’, compared to 51 per cent in 2010.

This is despite bathing water classification standards being tightened in 2015, it claims.

The announcement follows the publication last week of the government’s water plan, which said water companies could face unlimited fines for dumping raw sewage into rivers, and outlined proposals to ban wet wipes containing plastic.

Labor said the plan amounted to a reiteration of old policy, claiming the measures would not prevent wastewater from being dumped.

The Environment Agency will take regular samples at the newly designated sites during the bathing season, which runs from 15 May to 30 September.

It will assess whether action is needed to reduce pollution levels and is working with local communities, farmers and water companies to improve water quality at the sites.

The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs says when selecting new bathing sites it considers how many people bathe there, whether the site has appropriate infrastructure and facilities such as toilets, and where investments in water quality improvements will have the greatest impact after designation.

Only those applications that meet these factors will be considered for public consultation.