A group of campaigners who have been testing the River Kent for pollution have four weeks to raise £1,500 to continue their programme. 

The Clean River Kent Campaign has been leading a citizen science project that involves collecting water samples from sites in Staveley, Beckmickle, Burneside, Kendal (Sandy Bottoms), Hawes Bridge and Sedgwick.

They have been testing for e.coli and enterococcus which are two sewage-related bacteria. 

This project has been running for the past few months but will need to raise money through Crowdfunder to continue through to October. 

Carole Wood, the chair of South Lakes Action on Climate Change (SLACC), said: "Cleaning up our rivers is a vital part of securing a sustainable environment for the future.

"Over 40 local volunteers are already involved in the citizen science project undertaking research along the River Kent. 

"This is a fantanstic community effort but we will need further funding to keep the programme going until October."

The group want to use their research to apply to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) for Bathing Water Designation Status at a site in Staveley in October. 

This would make the River Kent only the third river in the UK to obtain this status. 

Isobel Stoddart, chair of the Clean River Kent Campaign said: "We wanted to understand what was going on in our rivers, and when we started investigating river campaigns across the UK we discovered the Ilkley campaign group.

"In 2020 they managed to get the first designated bathing site river in the UK."

To get designated bathing site status the campaign must prove interest in the lake by the number of people using the river, and actively monitor the levels of bacteria. 

The volunteers for the campaign have not only collected water samples at various points of the river, but have also conducted two hour surveys to measure how many swimmers are using the river. 

Each sample kit has to be sent off to an accredited lab, which costs £50 per kit. 

This means that the funding will enable the campaign to continue the water sampling and headcounts for long enough to get a designated bathing water status.