- Swimmers and pet owners have been warned against entering the River Thames at London's first official bathing site in Ham and Kingston following the discovery of toxic blue-green algae.
- The Environment Agency has extended its warning to a broader stretch of the Thames between Hampton and Kingston, emphasising that it is vitally important to keep dogs out of the water.
- The algae, also known as cyanobacteria, thrives in warm, calm, and dry weather conditions and produces dangerous toxins that cause skin rashes and illness in humans, as well as being potentially fatal to pets and wildlife.
- Warning signage has been installed by the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, and an official advice against bathing notice has been published on the Swiminfo website.
- Environment Agency officers are taking water samples along the river to determine the full extent of the bloom, while local abstractors downstream and the UK Health Security Agency have been notified.
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