We’re often asked what you can do if you see a pollution incident on the river or someone dumping waste into a stormwater drain. Sadly, our waterways are under enormous strain and these kinds of incidents happen all too often. Thankfully, there is a fairly robust reporting system in place. Our advice is to:

• Be aware of your personal safety. Do not confront polluters directly.

• If it is safe to do so, take photographs of the pollution event. Also, take note of whether there are any dead or distressed fish or birds.

• Record the location (the What3Words app is very useful for this), as well as the date and time. Also, get the location of the source of the pollution if possible.

• Call the Environment Agency 24-hour pollution hotline on 0800 555 111 and report the incident. Ask them to provide you with a situation update.

• Report it through the Thames Water online pollution reporting tool.

If it seems that nothing is being done by the authorities, do not despair. These pollution incident reports are kept on file to identify priority areas and build a case for future actions.