Thames Water's work to protect Wimbledon Lake Park has been recognised by the Environment Agency.

The beauty spot has been suffering from poor water quality over the past two years which Thames Water said is due to a combination of fly-tipping and misconnected pipes, with water which should be destined for sewage works but ending up in the watercourse.

Now the company is urging people in Merton to ensure their drains are properly connected.

The Environment Agency's Gary Waddup said: “Thames Water has carried out important work identifying and rectifying misconnections in this catchment following our requests to clean up the surface water drain that enters Wimbledon Park Lake.

“The Lake is a much loved community asset and this project is an excellent example of the Environment Agency and Thames Water working together to improve water quality.”

Ruta Akelyte, from Thames Water’s environmental protection team, said: “There are two separate drainage systems in this area one for rain water and one for waste water.

“That’s why it’s vital domestic and commercial drains are connected correctly so that waste water from people’s sinks, baths and dishwashers does not end up harming the environment.”

Ruta added: “Since 2015 we’ve identified more than 5,000 private properties with misconnections, totalling almost 10,000 waste appliances, which is the equivalent volume of 50 Olympic-size swimming pools of wastewater wrongly entering our region’s waterways over the course of a year.”