CAMPAIGNERS have warned that the stretch of the River Thames where this weekend’s Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race takes place fails to meet basic water quality standards.

Testing by River Action found that 29.5 per cent of its samples exceeded safe limits for entering the water — three times the threshold for bathing waters rated as “poor.”

Campaigners warn that treated wastewater from sewage plants, currently not subject to legal limits on E.coli levels, is a significant source of pollution in the Thames.