An Oxford MP is expected at a protest at Port Meadow on Sunday demanding action to clean up the Thames.

Oxford West and Abingdon MP Layla Moran intends to take part in the protest planned after river swimmers were not notified until 24 hours after Thames Water began dumping sewage into the River Windrush, which feeds in to the Thames, in the early hours of Christmas Day.

It meant swimmers gathering for the Annual Christmas group swim on Oxford's Port Meadow had no idea of the health risks of entering the water.

READ ALSO: Wild swimmers to protest after delay in notification leaves them 'swimming in raw sewage'

Thames Water apologised for the error in the automated email alert system which is currently being trialled across six sites in Oxford.

Ms Moran called on the Government to take action on cleaning up the Thames in a Westminster Hall debate she secured in November.

She told parliament the river is becoming a place of real "poohsticks" due to untreated sewage.

"When A. A. Milne invented the game poohsticks, I don't think he quite thought the name would have applied so literally," she said.

She said untreated sewage had been released into Oxfordshire rivers about 60 times last year and called for bathing water status to be granted to Port Meadow.

Oxford City council applied to DEFRA to grant Bathing Water status at popular wild swimming spots Wolvercote stream, and Fiddlers Island near Port Meadow in October last year.

READ ALSO: MP raises issues of flooding and sewage discharge in Abingdon with Thames Water

The special designation would result in the Environment Agency testing pollution levels regularly and the council putting up signage displaying the water quality.

More than 5,000 people signed a petition backing the move, and Thames Water has supported the application.The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is still considering the request.

In October 2021, the Government was forced to U-turn on its refusal to impose legal controls on water companies to prevent them dumping raw sewage into rivers and seas following a public backlash.

MPs were whipped to vote down an amendment to the Environment Bill, but the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) later said a duty to reduce sewage discharge “would be enshrined in law”.

Ms Moran voted against the Government’s attempt to "water down" the amendment.

Speaking after the vote, Layla Moran said: “I have heard countless stories from constituents who have fallen ill after swimming in our local rivers, and this is shameful. Alongside granting bathing water status for the Thames on Port Meadow, this Government must act to clean up waterways across the country."

The protest will be held at the north end of Port Meadow by the weir on January 23 at 11.30am. Meet at car park/picnic area in Lower Wolvercote.