A section of the River Wye popular with wild-swimmers is to be granted official bathing water status in a Welsh government U-turn.

Campaigners said they were “delighted” by the move, which will lead to mandatory monitoring of water quality at The Warren near Hay-on-Wye.

Their application had initially been turned down, over concerns that “increased footfall” at the site might cause environmental damage.

But the Welsh government has now conceded that the stretch of river meets the criteria for bathing water status as it is used by large numbers of swimmers.