Apathy blamed for 'this shocking plastic river' in Sleaford
BBCPublic apathy is being blamed for a constant flow of rubbish in a waterway dubbed a "shocking plastic river".
The River Slea, in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, is blighted by waste which gathers at a narrow channel in the town centre, campaigners say.
The town's mayor, Grenville Jackson, said the problem was largely caused by people's laziness.
"People throw it down and walk off - as far as they are concerned it's not there anymore," he said.
He praised the efforts of volunteers and the council's cleaning team but said: "The problem is at night with people using the various takeaways and just throwing things down which then end up in the river.
"We live in a disposable society and people think they can just throw plastic away," he added.
Volunteer Andy Greenwood, who helps with regular river clean-up sessions, said he was prompted to take action after seeing a picture on Facebook.
"You couldn't tell it was a river," he said.
"It was covered with plastic and I spoke up and said something needed to be done and it snowballed from there."
In a recent clean-up, Mr Greenwood said they pulled about 40kg (88lbs) of plastic waste from the waterway.
Other items included a child's scooter and the sides of an old boiler.
Regan Harris, from Anglian Water, which dubbed the waterway "this shocking plastic river" in a Facebook post on Tuesday, said the company was committed to ridding the region of single-use plastic.
Along with Keep Britain Tidy, it helps to fund river clean ups in the region.
