Levels of Somerset river pollution 'absolutely terrifying'

The River Tone, which runs through Taunton town centre, was found to have high levels of mercury compounds

Somerset's rivers are polluted with unacceptable levels of mercury compounds and other harmful chemicals, say the Environment Agency (EA).

The county's five main rivers have all failed to meet EA standards, with lead and insecticides found in the water.

Taunton councillor Caroline Ellis said she had been "horrified" by the report and called it "absolutely terrifying".

The findings come as Somerset West and Taunton Council declared an ecological emergency at a meeting on Tuesday.

The EA measures the quality of England's rivers in two ways.

An ecological measure examines the diversity and health of its wildlife, while a chemical measure assesses whether rivers contain too much sewage, phosphate or other harmful substances.

Taunton councillor Caroline Ellis warned that efforts to improve environmental standards were 'slipping backwards'

Somerset's rivers - the River Axe, Brue, Parrett, Tone and the Yeo - were rated between 'good', 'moderate' and 'poor' for their ecology, but failed the chemicals assessment, according to the BBC's Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"What really horrified me was reading the EA report which says that every single river in England is polluted," said Ms Ellis.

"It's absolutely terrifying. I looked up the stretch of the Tone in Taunton and that failed the EA's chemical test, so that really brings is home that we're actually slipping backwards," she added.

'Further and faster'

Taunton Deane MP Rebecca Pow addressed the issue in a written statement put before the House of Commons on Monday.

She said: "The EA's latest water body classification results showed that 16% of waters overall and 14% of rivers are at 'good' ecological status.

"This is the same result as the data for 2016, which means progress...has plateaued.

"More needs to be done and we need to go further and faster," she said.