Local volunteers, supported by the Bristol and Avon Rivers Trust, have spent a day clearing plastic from the Wellow Brook below the bridge on Braysdown Lane.

The plastic, discarded into the river upstream, gets caught against branches and on the banks of the river.

Chris Lewis-Smith, who has co-ordinated the project, said: “Most of what we took out consists of plastic drinks bottles. It’s amazing, and shocking, to see just how much there is, and this is just the stuff that does not make it downstream.”

Clearing the river is just the start of a bigger project that is being supported by Radstock and Westfield Big Local, which is administered by the Local Trust for the Big Lottery Fund. The project aims to work with local children to make a giant fish from all of the collected plastic. The fish will be paraded through Radstock on the first weekend of July by the Natural Theatre Company of Bath, who are supporting the project.

Chris continued: “Hopefully the Fish will demonstrate how much plastic ends up in our river and is swept downstream out of sight. We hope that this will support growing local awareness of the bigger issue of plastic waste.”