ENVIRONMENTAL campaigners unveiled a “pooster” in London today to expose water companies profiting while poisoning Britain’s rivers, lakes and seas.

The billboard, made of £50 notes and stained brown with sewage waste, symbolises the dirty profits of water companies, River Action said.

It was displayed near Vauxhall Station as a crowd of wild swimmers in bathing costumes gathered to launch the group’s March for Clean Water campaign, which will see protesters gather in the capital on November 3.

River Action’s analysis of data from sewagemap.co.uk found that Thames Water alone discharged more than 7,000 hours of untreated human sewage into the River Thames, equal to 291 days.

It said many of these discharges are believed to have been unlawful.

River Action campaigns manager Amy Fairman said: “Water companies like Thames Water are up to their necks in it, treating our rivers, seas and lakes like open sewers.

“Meanwhile they squander bill payers’ cash with impunity, splashing it on shareholder dividends, bonuses for their bosses and paying huge levels of interest on their junk-rated debt.

“Our ‘pooster’ drives home the point: the financial gains they make are filthy money.

“It’s time for change. The UK public is fed up with sewage-drenched waterways and our campaign demands urgent reform.”

Laura Reineke, a wild swimmer who attended the action, said: “Freshwater species are declining at a rate of five times that of species that live on land, our biodiversity needs rescuing.

“Our river is visibly poorly, choking in chemicals and suffocating in poo.

“This assault on our wildlife and our health has to stop, water should be run for the benefit of humans and the wildlife that calls it home.”

Thames Water was approached for comment.