THE UK Government appeared to have ceded Herefordshire to Wales when it rejected a petition about the polluted river Wye.

Mark Cheetham, a surgeon working in Shropshire, started a petition to urge the Government to control pollution from agriculture in the Wye and Severn river catchments.

But the UK Government briefly rejected Mr Cheetham's petition, saying the responsibility lay solely with the Welsh Government – leading to ridicule on Twitter.

It has now been reinstated, with one environmental activist praising Mr Cheetham for "persuading" Westminster that Herefordshire was in fact in England.

The petition, now signed by more than 1,750 people, called for an immediate moratorium on new intensive poultry units in the Wye and Severn catchment areas, the control of manure spreading, phosphate levels to be monitored and legal action against pollution breaches.

But in a now deleted response to the petition, the UK Government said it couldn't accept the petition, according to the Shropshire Star.

"It’s about something that the UK Government or Parliament is not responsible for," the response added.

"Your petition appears to relate to activities in Wales, and planning and the environment are devolved matters, so the responsibility of the Welsh Government, Welsh local authorities and Natural Resources Wales, not the UK Government or House of Commons."

Before appealing and getting the petition reinstated, Mr Cheetham tweeted: "So the Wye and Severn are now solely the responsibility of the Welsh Government!

"My petition to control pollution from agriculture in the Wye and Severn river catchments has been rejected."

Environmental and political writer George Monbiot was one Twitter user to ridicule the Government's decision, saying: "This is astonishing.

"A petition about the pollution of the Wye and Severn catchments has been rejected by Westminster on the grounds that they are the sole responsibility of the Welsh government.

"Could someone lend the officials at UK Parliament a map?"

A spokesperson for the Welsh Government said: “The UK Parliament recently rejected a petition in relation to control of agricultural pollution in the Wye and Severn rivers on the basis that it is a devolved matter.

“This is not wholly accurate; this is a cross-border issue.

"The respective devolved responsibilities only apply to those parts of the Wye and Severn catchments that fall within Wales.

“The responsibilities and functions relating to those parts of the catchments within England are a matter for the UK Government and its agencies.”

After the petition was reinstated, Mr Monbiot said: “Congratulations to Mark Cheetham, who has managed to persuade UK Parliament that Shropshire, Herefordshire, Gloucestershire and Worcestershire are in England.

“Following his successful appeal, his petition has been reinstated. Please sign it.”

The Wye's problems include high levels of phosphates, widely believed to come from agriculture, and in particularly poultry farms.

High levels of phosphates – above set limits – also plague the Lugg, leading to Herefordshire Council introducing a ban on new builds which could contribute to the problems for the river which flows through north Herefordshire to the Wye.

The River Wye is the fourth-longest river in the UK, flowing for 155 miles from its source on Plynlimon in mid Wales, through Herefordshire and to the Severn estuary.