Campaigners are calling for urgent real-time pollution alerts on Windermere after a seven-year-old boy nearly died from E. coli contracted during a family kayaking trip. Rex Earley spent six weeks in hospital and underwent two emergency operations after falling ill last August.
His mother Claire Earley had checked the Environment Agency website, which rated the water quality as 'excellent', but the water appeared murky. Rex contracted E. coli O157, the same strain that killed nine-year-old Heather Preen in 1999. The family is now backing demands for live pollution warnings across the lake, which attracts seven million visitors annually.
Matt Staniek of Save Windermere said the current bathing water classification is 'dangerously misleading'. Independent tests by Olympic swimmer Hector Pardoe found E. coli levels at 6,898 colony forming units per 100ml near Brockhole, more than eight times the threshold for 'excellent' status. The lake lacks daily pollution forecasts available at some coastal sites.
A Liberal Democrat early day motion supports the call for targeted sampling, public signage, and an online portal with real-time data. Rex's mother said: 'People need to know what the dangers are. We were doing something any ordinary family does on holiday.'
