News that £20m will be invested in cleaning up an 'ecologically dead' river has been cautiously welcomed by campaigners.

As reported, the amount of human waste overflowing into the River Lim in west Dorset has tripled in under a year.

What was once a thriving ecosystem was reported as having 'a layer of brown sludge' coating the top of it.

Now water company South West Water has announced it'll be applying to fast track funding to clean up the River Lim.

It'll be applying to bring a £20m investment programme - which would have been available from 2025 - forward, by making an application to the regulator Ofwat this October.

The state of the river 'needs addressing urgently', campaign group The River Lim Action Group says, and members want to see 'work happening as soon as possible'.

The funding would be spent on:

• Increasing storm storage at Uplyme Sewage Treatment works

• Improvements to storm overflows

• Control and instrumentation improvements at Horn Bridge, with the aim of reducing spills “towards the target of 10 spills per annum”

• New screens at Gosling Bridge and Mill Lane

• Surface water separation activities in the network to reduce volumes of storm water reaching the Sewage Treatment Works

These are all improvements the River Lim Action group has been calling for – but the group is seeking clarification on other items on the list.

The dire condition of the river’s water quality and lack of ecological diversity even made the national headlines.

A spokesman for South West Water said: "We will be applying to Ofwat in October as part of the business planning process for transitional funding (i.e. bringing funding forwards) to address six storm overflows impacting the River Lim."

In response to an Environmental Information Regulation request from the River Lim Action group, South West Water said: “All of the planned work is associated with improvements to shellfish waters and is scheduled for completion by March 2027 including at Front Beach, and SWW are already looking to bring forward investment that was originally planned to take place in the funding period 2025-2030.

"The request to bring forward the investment is subject to regulatory approval."

The regulatory approval, to be given by Ofwat, 'will be a test of the government’s stated commitment to cleaning up the appalling high levels of sewage discharge currently blighting the nation’s rivers and seas,' the River Lim Action group says.

Vicki Elcoate, of the action group, said: “We welcome this progress from South West Water.

"Now we need to see Ofwat get behind it too to release the funds.

"The state of the river needs addressing urgently and we want to see the work happening as soon as possible."

There will be a public consultation on the construction works needed.